Judge's first question covering promotion (4)
I believe the answer is:
qadi
'judge's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'first question covering promotion' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'first' could be 'i' (I in Roman numerals eg Elizabeth I) and 'i' is located in the answer.
'question' could be 'q' and 'q' is located in the answer.
'promotion' could be 'ad' (short for advert) and 'ad' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for qadi that I've seen before include "Alternative spelling for a magistrate in Muslim countries" , "judge" .)