Droll doctor first to know where ships are repaired (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
dry dock
'where ships are repaired' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'droll doctor first to know' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'doctor' could be 'doc' (synonyms) and 'doc' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dry dock that I've seen before include "Ship repair area" , "naval repair facility" , "Part of a shipyard" , "where a liner may be built" , "Place for hull repairs" .)