Conservative meeting leading bosses — are there skeletons hiding here? (8)
I believe the answer is:
cupboard
'there skeletons hiding here?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'conservative meeting leading bosses' is the wordplay.
'conservative' becomes 'C' (UK political abbreviation).
'meeting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'leading' becomes 'up' (similar in meaning).
'bosses' becomes 'board' (board of directors).
'c'+'up'+'board'='CUPBOARD'
'are' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cupboard that I've seen before include "Piece of furniture in which things are stored" , "One with shelves and door" , "Piece of furniture used for storage" , "Kitchen storage" , "Store for crockery etc" .)