High speed on wide street upset sick Italian diplomat (11)
I believe the answer is:
machiavelli
'italian diplomat' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'high speed on wide street upset sick' is the wordplay.
'high speed' becomes 'machi' (Mach 1. I am not sure about the 'high' bit.).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'wide street' becomes 'ave' (short for avenue).
'upset' is a reversal indicator.
'sick' becomes 'ill' (similar in meaning).
'ill' written backwards gives 'lli'.
'machi'+'ave'+'lli'='MACHIAVELLI'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for machiavelli that I've seen before include "Statesman of Florence" , "notorious schemer" , "Author of The_Prince" , "unprincipled politician" , "Crafty chap" .)