‘Up-to-the-minute’ is about right for ‘very hot’ (8)
I believe the answer is:
tropical
'very hot' is the definition.
(in the tropics)
'up-to-the-minute is about right' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'about' could be 'ca' (short for circa) and 'ca' is found in the answer.
'right' could be 'r' (common abbreviation) and 'r' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tropical that I've seen before include "Middle-earth" , "Belonging to hot regions" , "Found in Cancer or Capricorn" , "Describes weather that is hot and humid" , "Relating to very warm areas" .)