Red opal set for elegant creature (7)
I believe the answer is:
leopard
'elegant creature' is the definition.
'leopard' can be an answer for 'creature' (thesaurus). I'm unsure of the 'elegant' bit.
'red opal set' is the wordplay.
'set' indicates anagramming the letters (instruction to set the letters).
'red'+'opal'='redopal'
'redopal' anagrammed gives 'LEOPARD'.
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for leopard that I've seen before include "Powerful cat" , "Large spotted cat" , "Panther" , "Spotted big cat" , "Animal that doesn't change its spots" .)