John erected surrounding houses with unresolved issues (10)
I believe the answer is:
ambivalent
'john erected surrounding houses with unresolved issues' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'john erected surrounding houses' is the wordplay.
'john' becomes 'lav' (both can mean a toilet).
'erected' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, letters go up).
'surrounding' becomes 'ambient' (synonyms).
'houses' is an insertion indicator.
'lav' reversed gives 'val'.
'val' placed within 'ambient' is 'AMBIVALENT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ambivalent that I've seen before include "with conflict in mind" , "With conflicting emotions" , "Having opposing attitudes" , "Showing conflicted attitude" , "Having mixed feelings (towards something)" .)