Elderly friends accepting sport half-heartedly - inclined to play? (9)
I believe the answer is:
kittenish
'play?' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for kittenish that I've seen before include "as queen in her youth, perhaps" , "like a queen's offspring?" , "Young, playful; flirtatious" , "Playful like young feline" , "in an affected way" .)