rt51

[Bendy]

7a. Rocks taken from side always right (5). ?D?A?. Thanks in advance.

[Aquagility]

Ideal (from clue text)

[Bendy]

Thanks again aquagility

[crofter]

There's a little more to this clue than first appears!
Rocks (SWAYS) taken from "S(ide al)WAYS" leaves IDEAL

[Aquagility]

Hmm. :-(

[crofter]

No - Don't look glum! Getting the correct answer is 90% of the task and sorting out the whole wordplay is only 10%.

I saw your solution and wondered how the Rocks fitted in! Then I realised that the clue was sharper than I first thought. By my posting I wanted to add to your answer not take anything away!

[Aquagility]

Thanks for coming back, crofter. I'm not cross with you, just cross with myself. The terrible truth is that one reaches a plateau in ones ability to do crosswords - and then one starts to go down. I do, anyway. Depressing!