He let trained maritime legend become a powerful singer! (5,6)
I believe the answer is:
ethel merman
'singer' is the definition.
(I know that Ethel Merman is or was a singer)
'he let trained maritime legend' is the wordplay.
'trained' is an anagram indicator (train can mean to shape or manipulate).
'maritime legend' becomes 'merman' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'he'+'let'='helet'
'helet' anagrammed gives 'ethel'.
'ethel'+'merman'='ETHEL MERMAN'
'become a powerful' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution?
Install my app