Authoritative police officer grabs teacher from behind (5)
I believe the answer is:
crisp
'authoritative' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'police officer grabs teacher from behind' is the wordplay.
'police officer' becomes 'pc' (police constable).
'grabs' indicates putting letters inside.
'teacher' becomes 'sir' (way of addressing a male teacher).
'from behind' is a reversal indicator.
'pc' placed around 'sir' is 'psirc'.
'psirc' in reverse letter order is 'CRISP'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crisp that I've seen before include "snack > firm" , "Fresh < , cold" , "Frosty" , "brief" , "Firm - sharp - brittle" .)