Secular beat right, Jolson? (8)

I believe the answer is:

temporal

'secular' is the definition.
(I know that secular can be written as temporal)

'beat right jolson?' is the wordplay.
'beat' becomes 'tempo' (I've seen this in another clue).
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'jolson?' becomes 'Al' (singer Al Jolson).
'tempo'+'r'+'al'='TEMPORAL'

(Other definitions for temporal that I've seen before include "Nothing spiritual" , "Relating to time" , "Not eternal" , "Secular; of the temples" , "Worldly, secular" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.