Amateur match official wearing protective gear - or not (8)
I believe the answer is:
barefoot
'not' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'amateur match official wearing protective gear' is the wordplay.
'amateur' becomes 'a'.
'match official' becomes 'ref' (referee).
'wearing' indicates putting letters inside.
'protective gear' becomes 'boot' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'ref'='aref'
'aref' inserted inside 'boot' is 'BAREFOOT'.
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for barefoot that I've seen before include "without protection for lowest members" , "Unshod" , "Without shoes and socks" , "Shoeless" , "'-------- in the Park', Neil Simon play filmed in 1967 with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford" .)