Trader from Maine with tirade about check (8)
I believe the answer is:
merchant
'trader' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'maine with tirade about check' is the wordplay.
'maine' becomes 'me'.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'tirade' becomes 'rant' (I've seen this before).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'check' becomes 'ch' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'rant' placed around 'ch' is 'rchant'.
'me'+'rchant'='MERCHANT'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for merchant that I've seen before include "Distributor" , "that's often associated with speed" , "One who buys and sells" , "Broker" , "Retail trader" .)