Alight as a tailless bird (7)
I believe the answer is:
flaming
'alight' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'as a tailless bird' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'as' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flaming that I've seen before include "Burning fiercely" , "Ardent" , "Fiery" , "Passionate" , "Brightly coloured" .)