Spotted entrance to palace that is without locks (7)
I believe the answer is:
piebald
'spotted' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'entrance to palace that is without locks' is the wordplay.
'entrance to' indicates taking the first letters.
'that is' becomes 'ie' (short for Latin 'id est', 'that is').
'without locks' becomes 'bald' (without locks of hair).
The first letter of 'palace' is 'p'.
'p'+'ie'+'bald'='PIEBALD'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for piebald that I've seen before include "Of horse, with patches of white and dark colour" , "(Of horse) black and white in patches" , "Bicoloured" , "Motley" , "Two-coloured (horse)" .)