Crossword Genius

Cute set of tools acquired midmorning? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

kittenish

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

'cute' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'set of tools acquired midmorning?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'set' could be 'kit' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'kit' is located in the answer.
'midmorning?' could be 'ten' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'ten' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ish' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for kittenish that I've seen before include "in an affected way" , "as queen in her youth, perhaps" , "Playful like young feline" , "'lively'?" , "like a queen's offspring?" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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