Correspondent facing anaesthetic (8,6)
I believe the answer is:
opposite number
'correspondent' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'facing anaesthetic' is the wordplay.
'facing' becomes 'opposite' (as in two things facing each other).
'anaesthetic' becomes 'number' (i.e. something that makes things numb).
'opposite'+'number'='OPPOSITE NUMBER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opposite number that I've seen before include "colleague elsewhere" , "Direct competitor" , "pal!" , "One of similar status" , "Counterpart" .)