On air, was a show host judged against somebody else? (8)
I believe the answer is:
compared
'else?' is the definition.
The answer and definition are different parts of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives sometimes mean the same thing.
'on air was a show host judged against somebody' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'on' could be 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to') and 're' is located in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for compared that I've seen before include "set side by side" , "Looked at similarities and differences" , "Drop mace (anag.)" , "Likened or contrasted" .)