Bikini, say, kept by nursemaid for leading cleric (9)
I believe the answer is:
ayatollah
'leading cleric' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.
'bikini say kept by nursemaid' is the wordplay.
'bikini say' becomes 'atoll' (Bikini Atoll is an example).
'kept by' indicates putting letters inside.
'nursemaid' becomes 'ayah' (I've seen this before).
'atoll' placed within 'ayah' is 'AYATOLLAH'.
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ayatollah that I've seen before include "Shiite leader, possibly in 10 across" , "High-ranking Shiite religious leader" , "Iranian leader" , "Religious high-up" , "Senior Iranian cleric" .)