Crossword Genius

Lively musical about entertaining clubs (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

active

'lively' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'musical about entertaining clubs' is the wordplay.
'musical' becomes 'evita' (Andrew Lloyd Webber musical).
'about' is a reversal indicator.
'entertaining' is an insertion indicator.
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation used in card games such as bridge).
'evita' back-to-front is 'ative'.
'ative' enclosing 'c' is 'ACTIVE'.

(Other definitions for active that I've seen before include "(Of mind) alert, lively" , "militant" , "Dynamic, functioning" , "Working; moving" , "Moving frequently" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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