Describes pungent smell of corrosive substance top researcher injected (5)
I believe the answer is:
acrid
'describes pungent smell' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'corrosive substance top researcher injected' is the wordplay.
'corrosive substance' becomes 'acid' (I've seen this in another clue).
'top' says to take the initial letters (in a down clue, the first letter is top).
'injected' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are injected).
The first letter of 'researcher' is 'r'.
'acid' placed around 'r' is 'ACRID'.
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for acrid that I've seen before include "Pungent or sharp, like smoke" , "Tart" , "Pungent; caustic" , "Sharp-smelling like smoke" , "Painfully pungent" .)