Shifty mouse is outside small room and without diamonds of several kinds (13)
I believe the answer is:
miscellaneous
'shifty' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'mouse is outside small room and without diamonds of several kinds' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'is' is found in the answer.
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is located in the answer.
'room' could be 'cell' (cell is a kind of room) and 'cell' is present in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for miscellaneous that I've seen before include "Multifarious" , "Sundry" , "Of various types" , "Mixed, varied" , "Not just one kind" .)