Popular tenor interrupting period of success by choice (6)
I believe the answer is:
dainty
'choice' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'popular tenor interrupting period' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'tenor' becomes 't'.
'interrupting' is an insertion indicator.
'period' becomes 'day' (day is a kind of period).
'in'+'t'='int'
'int' put within 'day' is 'DAINTY'.
'of success by' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dainty that I've seen before include "Twee" , "Fastidious" , "Refined" , "Delicately small and pretty" , "Delicate, neat" .)