Bard's killer guardian clutching a spear? (9)
I believe the answer is:
asparagus
'a spear?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how one could define the other.
'bard's killer guardian clutching' is the wordplay.
'bard's' becomes 'a' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'killer' becomes 'asp' (Kind of poisonous snake).
'guardian' becomes 'argus' (term for a guardian, from the mythological figure).
'clutching' is an insertion indicator.
'asp'+'argus'='aspargus'
'a' inserted inside 'aspargus' is 'ASPARAGUS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for asparagus that I've seen before include "Spear-carrier" , "Plant with edible shoots" , "Vegetable delicacy" , "cat in dramatic situation" , "Speared vegetable" .)