Anodyne article appears in Queen (5)
I believe the answer is:
ether
'anodyne' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'article appears in queen' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the 'definite article' part of speech).
'appears in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'queen' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'the' placed inside 'er' is 'ETHER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ether that I've seen before include "Rare atmosphere" , "Old anaesthetic -- three (anag)" , "What's clear" , "Once widely-used anaesthetic" , "It could knock you out" .)