Start of easy question and answer on oddly lost matches (6)
I believe the answer is:
equals
'matches' is the definition.
(I know this)
'start of easy question and answer on oddly lost' is the wordplay.
'start of' says to take the initial letters.
'question' becomes 'qu' (abbreviation).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'answer on' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A. I am not sure about the 'on' bit.).
'oddly' indicates alternate letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
The initial letter of 'easy' is 'e'.
The alternating letters of 'lost' are 'ls'.
'e'+'qu'+'a'+'ls'='EQUALS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for equals that I've seen before include "Is as good as" , "Is identical or equivalent to" , "They're at the same level" , "Those with the same status, rights, etc." , "sign" .)