Crossword Genius

Belligerent mother's on trial when leader demoted (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

martial

'belligerent' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'mother's on trial when leader demoted' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'trial' is 'rtial' which is present in the answer.
'mother' could be 'ma' (ma can mean mother) and 'ma' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

(Other definitions for martial that I've seen before include "Specialist in epigrams" , "Relating to the military" , "These arts concern fighting sports" , "Warlike; Roman poet" , "Of war or the armed forces" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.