Apostle lacking universal example of friendship (3)
I believe the answer is:
pal
'example of friendship' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'apostle lacking universal' is the wordplay.
'apostle' becomes 'paul' (St Paul is an example).
'lacking' suggests deleting specific letters.
'universal' becomes 'U' (film certificate).
'paul' with 'u' taken away is 'PAL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pal that I've seen before include "Crony" , "Mate, buddy" , "Bud" , "Mate, informal friend" , "Close friend" .)