Fair standard of thrill in cycles, essentially (8)
I believe the answer is:
carousel
'fair standard' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'thrill in cycles essentially' is the wordplay.
'thrill' becomes 'arouse' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'essentially' says to take the centre.
The middle letters of 'cycles' are 'cl'.
'arouse' placed inside 'cl' is 'CAROUSEL'.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for carousel that I've seen before include "A closure (anag.)" , "it's located in 'Arrivals'" , "luggage mover at Heathrow?" , "Musical, roundabout" , "Musical - merry-go-round" .)