Well-liked tree around university (7)
I believe the answer is:
popular
'well-liked' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'tree around university' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'around' could be 'o' (a round letter) and 'o' is located in the answer.
'university' could be 'u' (abbreviation for university) and 'u' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for popular that I've seen before include "Well-liked" , "Fashionable" , "Well liked, generally admired" , "In demand" , "Non-technical" .)