A little node protecting upturned sea shell? (7)
I believe the answer is:
torpedo
'sea shell?' is the definition.
'torpedo' can be an answer for 'shell?' (thesaurus). I'm unsure of the 'sea' bit.
'a little node protecting upturned' is the wordplay.
'a little' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (a little bit of the clue).
'upturned' is a reversal indicator.
'odeprot' is hidden within 'node protecting'.
'odeprot' in reverse letter order is 'TORPEDO'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for torpedo that I've seen before include "Underwater bomb" , "Destroy" , "(Of a project) cause to sink without trace" , "Missile form a submarine" , "Explosive missile from submarine" .)