Discovering what the directors think of baffling device (8,5)
I believe the answer is:
sounding board
'think of baffling device' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'discovering what the directors' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'directors' could be 'board' (board of directors) and 'board' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sounding' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sounding board that I've seen before include "means of testing idea" , "One whose opinion is sought" , "Recipient of experimental ideas perhaps" , "Means of testing opinion" .)