Crossword Genius

Intense nervous excitement always shown by fathead (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fever

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

'intense nervous excitement' is the definition.
'fever' can be an answer for 'excitement' (fever is a kind of excitement). I'm not certain of the 'intense nervous' bit.

'always shown by fathead' is the wordplay.
'always' becomes 'ever' (synonyms).
'shown by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'fathead' becomes 'f' (head letter of 'fat').
'ever' after 'f' is 'FEVER'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fever that I've seen before include "Reason for temperature" , "Elvis hit" , "eg Malaria" , "Nervous excitement, high temperature" , "State of heightened excitement" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.