Learner with bold exterior gets sweetheart (7)
I believe the answer is:
darling
'sweetheart' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'learner with bold exterior' is the wordplay.
'learner with' becomes 'l' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'bold' becomes 'daring' (I've seen this before).
'exterior' is an insertion indicator.
'l' inserted inside 'daring' is 'DARLING'.
'gets' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for darling that I've seen before include "lover" , "Australian tributary of the Murray River, sweetheart" , "Grace -, nineteenth century wreck heroine of lighthouse" , "Term of affection" , "family in play" .)