Linesman appointed at Palace (4,8)
I believe the answer is:
poet laureate
'palace' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'linesman appointed' is the wordplay.
'linesman' becomes 'poet'.
'appointed' becomes 'laureate' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'poet'+'laureate'='POET LAUREATE'
'at' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for poet laureate that I've seen before include "Court verse writer" , "Queen picked out" , "Court versifier" , "Official verse writer" , "such as Tennyson" .)