Robin perhaps lifted by hand now and then (3)
I believe the answer is:
day
'robin' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'lifted by hand now and then' is the wordplay.
'lifted' says the letters should be written backwards (going up in down clue).
'now and then' indicates alternate letters (letters taken on a regular basis, now and then).
'by'+'hand'='byhand'
The alternate letters of 'byhand' are 'yad'.
'yad' in reverse letter order is 'DAY'.
'perhaps' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for day that I've seen before include "24 hours" , "24 23 acrosses" , "THIRD PART OF 23" , "Unit of time" , "Period of time" .)