Crossword Genius

Strangely variable opening of draft of part of speech (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adverbial

'part of speech' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'strangely variable opening of draft' is the wordplay.
'strangely' indicates an anagram.
'opening of' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'draft' is 'd'.
'variable'+'d'='variabled'
'variabled' with letters rearranged gives 'ADVERBIAL'.

'of' is the link.

(Other definitions for adverbial that I've seen before include "modifying another word?" , "Relating to a modifying word" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.