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Sweaty heartless chairman is starting trouble (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

moist

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'sweaty' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'heartless chairman is starting trouble' is the wordplay.
'heartless' means to remove the middle letters.
'chairman' becomes 'mao' (I've seen this before).
'starting' indicates taking the first letters.
'mao' with its centre removed is 'mo'.
The initial letter of 'trouble' is 't'.
'mo'+'is'+'t'='MOIST'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for moist that I've seen before include "lubricated" , "bit wet" , "Damp, humid" , "sloppy" , "Slightly wet, damp" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).
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