Does it count as a poisonous reptile? (5)
I believe the answer is:
adder
'reptile?' is the definition.
(adder is a kind of reptile)
'does it count as a poisonous' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found within the answer.
'count' could be 'add' (adding is a kind of counting) and 'add' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'r' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for adder that I've seen before include "Reptilian" , "Britain's only venomous snake" , "Mathematical reptile" , "One creature" , "One contributing more" .)