Energy lacking in French composer’s works? That’s acceptable (12)
I believe the answer is:
satisfactory
'acceptable' is the definition.
(I know that acceptable can be written as satisfactory)
'energy lacking in french composer's works?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'energy' could be 'ac' (AC is an example) and 'ac' is found within the answer.
'french' could be 'f' and 'f' is found within the answer.
'works?' could be 'is' ('be' can be a synonym of 'work') and 'is' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'that's' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for satisfactory that I've seen before include "Fully acceptable" , "Meeting expectations" , "Good enough" , "fine" , "Acceptable - adequate" .)