Dull routine reflected essential Christmas tradition (6)
I believe the answer is:
turkey
'christmas tradition' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'dull routine reflected essential' is the wordplay.
'dull routine' becomes 'rut' (I've seen this before).
'reflected' says the letters should be written in reverse (letters reflected back).
'essential' becomes 'key' (key can mean essential or important).
'rut' in reverse letter order is 'tur'.
'tur'+'key'='TURKEY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for turkey that I've seen before include "Gobbling bird" , "sometimes cold" , "one gobbles" , "which is found in more than one continent" , "Mostly Asian country" .)