A joint close at hand (5)
I believe the answer is:
wrist
'a joint' is the definition.
(I know that wrist is a joint)
'close at hand' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'hand' could be 'r' (abbreviation for right, as in the right-hand side) and 'r' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'wist' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wrist that I've seen before include "Human joint" , "Joint between hand and arm" , "Type of 1 ac" , "Arm to hand connection, the carpus" , "Joint (the carpus)" .)