Independent needs good month to fill position in long-winded process (9)
I believe the answer is:
rigmarole
'process' is the definition.
(I know that rigmarole is a type of process)
'independent needs good month to fill position in long-winded' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'independent' could be 'i' and 'i' is found in the answer.
'good' could be 'g' (abbreviation) and 'g' is located in the answer.
'month' could be 'mar' (short for March) and 'mar' is found in the answer.
'position' could be 'role' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'role' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rigmarole that I've seen before include "Long, complicated and confusing procedure" , "boring series" , "Tedious procedure" , "Performance" , "Complicated business" .)