First person is covered in sticky substance to provide a diversion (7)
I believe the answer is:
pastime
'diversion' is the definition.
(I know that pastime is a type of diversion)
'first person is covered in sticky substance to provide a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'first' could be 'i' (I in Roman numerals eg Elizabeth I) and 'i' is found within the answer.
'substance' could be 'tm' (Tm is an example) and 'tm' is found in the remaining letters.
'a' is within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pastime that I've seen before include "Leisure activity" , "Hobby - recreation" , "relaxation" , "Leisure pursuit" , "diversion" .)