Crossword Genius

Allegiance from 50 kings and queens? Not at first (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

loyalty

'allegiance' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'50 kings and queens? not at first' is the wordplay.
'50' becomes 'l' ('L' can be a synonym of '50').
'kings and queens?' becomes 'royalty'.
'not at first' means to remove the first letter.
'royalty' with its initial letter taken away is 'oyalty'.
'l'+'oyalty'='LOYALTY'

'from' is the link.

(Other definitions for loyalty that I've seen before include "Fidelity, allegiance" , "Firm allegiance" , "Strong allegiance" , "Alligiance and fidelity" , "Allegiance, commitment" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app