Coral pit turned out to be stifling (8)
I believe the answer is:
tropical
'to be stifling' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'coral pit turned' is the wordplay.
'turned' indicates anagramming the letters.
'coral'+'pit'='coralpit'
'coralpit' with letters rearranged gives 'TROPICAL'.
'out' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tropical that I've seen before include "Hot and humid, as north and south of the equator" , "Middle-earth" , "Hot and humid type of weather" , "rainforest areas" , "Hot and humid, near the equator" .)