Carnival made false start and the atmosphere crumbled (10)
I believe the answer is:
fairground
'carnival' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'false start and the atmosphere crumbled' is the wordplay.
'start' indicates taking the first letters.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the atmosphere' becomes 'air' (synonyms).
'crumbled' becomes 'ground' (I've seen this before).
The first letter of 'false' is 'f'.
'f'+'air'+'ground'='FAIRGROUND'
'made' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fairground that I've seen before include "good enough for entertainment" , "that holds attractions" , "Entertainment centre" , "rides here" , "Entertainment venue" .)