The Maori service, casual and unrevealing (9)
I believe the answer is:
secretive
'unrevealing' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'the maori service casual' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'service' is 'secreiv' which is present in the remaining letters.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for secretive that I've seen before include "Unforthcoming" , "Very private" , "Tending to hide things" , "withdrawn" , "Tight-lipped, reticent" .)