They make up the royal train (9)
I believe the answer is:
courtiers
'they' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are plural nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'up the royal train' 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.
'royal' could be 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina) and 'er' is found in the answer.
'up' could be 'is' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'is' is present in the remaining letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'make' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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