Painful, is it, turning second of screws? (8)
I believe the answer is:
sadistic
'painful' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'is it turning second of screws?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'is' is present in the answer.
'it' could be 'sa' (old-fashioned abbreviation for sex appeal) and 'sa' is found within the answer.
'second' could be 'tic' and 'tic' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'd' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sadistic that I've seen before include "nasty" , "Enjoying cruelty" , "Liking to inflict pain on others" , "Taking pleasure in inflicting pain" , "This kind of person enjoys cruelty" .)