Shining Path traced back to Peruvian empire? (12)
I believe the answer is:
incandescent
'shining' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'path traced back to peruvian empire?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'path' could be 'descent' (I have seen 'Downward path ' mean 'descent' so perhaps 'path' could also mean 'descent') and 'descent' is located in the answer.
'peruvian' could be 'incan' (I have seen 'Old Peruvian ' mean 'incan' so perhaps 'peruvian' could also mean 'incan') and 'incan' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for incandescent that I've seen before include "Hotly glowing bright" , "Dazzling" , "Brilliant" , "Furious" , "livid" .)