I trace criminal drilling behind cell (9)
I believe the answer is:
bacterium
'cell' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'i trace criminal drilling behind' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates an anagram.
'drilling' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters drill through others).
'behind' becomes 'bum' (synonyms).
'i'+'trace'='itrace'
'itrace' with letters rearranged gives 'acteri'.
'acteri' inserted into 'bum' is 'BACTERIUM'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bacterium that I've seen before include "germ?" , "health risk?" , "Fundamental" , "Micro-organism that can cause disease" .)