Cook putting out a drink talks from here? (7)
I believe the answer is:
rostrum
'here?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'cook putting out a drink talks' is the wordplay.
'cook' becomes 'roast' (roasting is a kind of cooking).
'putting out' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'drink talks' becomes 'rum' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'roast' with 'a' taken away is 'rost'.
'rost'+'rum'='ROSTRUM'
'from' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rostrum that I've seen before include "Platform for public speakers" , "place for speaker" , "Platform for orchestra conductor" , "stage" , "At which one may conduct" .)