Cry out about editor finishing brief with colleague (9)
I believe the answer is:
bedfellow
'colleague' is the definition.
(both can mean an associate)
'cry out about editor finishing brief' is the wordplay.
'cry out' becomes 'bellow' (bellow is a kind of cry. I am not sure about the 'out' bit.).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'editor' becomes 'ed'.
'finishing' says to take the final letters (the letter which finishes the word).
The final letter of 'brief' is 'f'.
'ed'+'f'='edf'
'bellow' going around 'edf' is 'BEDFELLOW'.
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bedfellow that I've seen before include "Mate" , "Colleague" , "Close associate or partner" , "Person slept with" , "Partner (in the boudoir?)" .)