English leaves bride confused to follow springer spaniel (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
bird dog
'springer spaniel' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'english leaves bride confused to follow' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'leaves' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'confused' indicates anagramming the letters.
'to follow' becomes 'dog' (I've seen this before).
'bride' with 'e' taken out is 'brid'.
'brid' with letters rearranged gives 'bird'.
'bird'+'dog'='BIRD DOG'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bird dog that I've seen before include "animal" , "American retriever" , "Retriever (in US)" , "American talent scout" .)