Crossword Genius

Passionate Olympic head receiving a watch (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

zealous

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'passionate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'olympic head receiving a watch' is the wordplay.
'olympic head' becomes 'zeus' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'receiving' indicates putting letters inside.
'watch' becomes 'lo' ('lo' is an archaic exclamation meaning 'look!').
'a'+'lo'='alo'
'zeus' placed around 'alo' is 'ZEALOUS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for zealous that I've seen before include "Avidly enthusiastic" , "Ardently active" , "Extremely enthusiastic" , "Impassioned" , "Highly enthusiastic" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app