Crossword Genius

Speed of agency typist with a circular letter (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tempo

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'speed' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'agency typist with a circular letter' is the wordplay.
'agency typist' becomes 'temp' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a circular letter' becomes 'o'.
'temp'+'o'='TEMPO'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tempo that I've seen before include "Muscial time" , "Rhythm, metre" , "Speed or beat, musically" , "musical quality?" , "Time (music)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app