Crossword Genius

Form bookmaker used upset old tax company (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

octavo

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'form bookmaker' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'upset old tax company' is the wordplay.
'upset' is a reversal indicator.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'tax' becomes 'vat' (UK Value Added Tax).
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'o'+'vat'+'co'='ovatco'
'ovatco' written backwards gives 'OCTAVO'.

'used' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for octavo that I've seen before include "Size of a book, pages are made by folding a sheet of paper three times to form eight leaves (6)" , "An eight-leaved book or page" , "Size of book page" , "Common book size" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app