Court linesman (4,8)
I believe the answer is:
poet laureate
'court linesman' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'linesman' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'linesman' could be 'laureate' (I have seen 'Honoured poet' mean 'laureate' so perhaps 'poet' could also mean 'laureate') and 'laureate' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'poet' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for poet laureate that I've seen before include "Wordsworth, for instance" , "Motion or Duffy, for example" , "Motion, at present" , "Official versifier" , "Queen picked out" .)