Did old Bob need a close one? (5)
I believe the answer is:
shave
'a close one?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'did old bob need' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'bob' could be 's' (abbreviation for shilling - 'bob' before 1971) and 's' is found in the answer.
'need' could be 'have' (synonyms) and 'have' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shave that I've seen before include "Remove hair (which could be narrow)" , "Knock off" , "cut" , "Shear closely" , "Tonsure" .)