Sailors tucking into meat about the time things are developing (6)
I believe the answer is:
vernal
'the time things are developing' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'sailors tucking into meat' is the wordplay.
'sailors' becomes 'RN' (Royal Navy).
'tucking into' indicates putting letters inside.
'meat' becomes 'veal' (veal is a kind of meat).
'rn' going inside 'veal' is 'VERNAL'.
'about' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for vernal that I've seen before include "Occuring in spring" , "Appearing in spring" , "Relating to Spring" , "Seasonal breaks" , "To do with the spring season" .)