Drama with old partner is tiresome (8)
I believe the answer is:
exacting
'tiresome' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'drama with old partner' is the wordplay.
'drama' becomes 'acting' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'old partner' becomes 'ex' (an ex-partner).
'acting' after 'ex' is 'EXACTING'.
'is' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exacting that I've seen before include "Stringent" , "Strict, demanding" , "Making great demands, requiring real effort" , "Not easily satisfied" , "Challenging" .)