Female isn't taking notice, inwardly cunning or timid? (5,7)
I believe the answer is:
faint hearted
'timid?' is the definition.
(I know that faint can be written as faint-hearted)
'female isn't taking notice inwardly cunning' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation).
'isn't' becomes 'aint' (non-standard version of 'isn't').
'taking notice' becomes 'heed' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'taking' bit.).
'inwardly' is an insertion indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'cunning' becomes 'art' (I've seen this in another clue).
'heed' placed around 'art' is 'hearted'.
'f'+'aint'+'hearted'='FAINT-HEARTED'
'or' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for faint hearted that I've seen is " Timid".)