Timid girl told fibs about retired vicar (4-7)
I believe the answer is:
lily-livered
'timid girl told fibs about retired vicar' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'timid girl told fibs about retired vicar' is the wordplay.
'timid girl' becomes 'lily' (girl's name. I am not sure about the 'timid' bit.).
'told fibs' becomes 'lied' (I've seen this before).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'retired' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'vicar' becomes 'rev' (reverend).
'rev' written backwards gives 'ver'.
'lied' placed around 'ver' is 'livered'.
'lily'+'livered'='LILY-LIVERED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lily-livered that I've seen before include "Weak and cowardly" , "chicken" , "Yellow" .)