Building with penthouse top has lifts containing themed interiors (8)
I believe the answer is:
premises
'building' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how one could define the other.
'penthouse top has lifts containing themed interiors' is the wordplay.
'top' indicates taking the first letters.
'has' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'lifts' becomes 'rises' (rising is a kind of lifting).
'containing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'interiors' means to look at the middle letters (I've seen 'interior' mean this).
The central letters of 'themed' are 'em'.
The initial letter of 'penthouse' is 'p'.
'rises' going around 'em' is 'remises'.
'p'+'remises'='PREMISES'
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for premises that I've seen before include "Property" , "Assumptions" , "House with its land" , "propositions that start off arguments" , "A business's site and buildings" .)