Crossword Genius

Bet success will be welcomed by a theatre fan (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

playgoer

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a theatre fan' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'bet success will be welcomed' is the wordplay.
'bet' becomes 'lay' (lay bet is a type of bet in gambling).
'success' becomes 'go' (I've seen this in other clues).
'will be' becomes 'per' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'welcomed' is an insertion indicator.
'lay'+'go'='laygo'
'laygo' put into 'per' is 'PLAYGOER'.

'by' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for playgoer that I've seen before include "Theatre fan" , "One who's regularly seen in theatre" , "Theatre patron" , "Person in theatre" , "He likes the Theatre" .)

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