A beer to serve Irish backing a melody (9)
I believe the answer is:
potpourri
'a melody' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'a beer to serve irish backing' is the wordplay.
'a beer' becomes 'pot' (pub name for large glass of beer in Australia).
'to serve' becomes 'pour' (as in pouring wine).
'irish' becomes 'IR' (abbreviation for Irish).
'backing' is a reversal indicator.
'ir' in reverse letter order is 'ri'.
'pot'+'pour'+'ri'='POTPOURRI'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for potpourri that I've seen before include "Mixture (of flower petals and spices?)" , "Mixture of dried, scented items" , "Perfuming mixture" , "A medley of popular tunes" , "Perfumed mix of dried petals and spices" .)