Positive source of guidance for defendant in court? (7)
I believe the answer is:
pleader
'court?' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'positive source of guidance for defendant' is the wordplay.
'source of' indicates taking the first letters.
'guidance' becomes 'lead' (lead is a kind of guidance).
'for defendant' becomes 'er' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The first letter of 'positive' is 'p'.
'p'+'lead'+'er'='PLEADER'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pleader that I've seen before include "Pale red (anag.)" , "case is made by one" , "Person making case" , "one making earnest entreaty" , "Advocate" .)