Essentials for singer going round island, cold (6)
I believe the answer is:
basics
'essentials' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'singer going round island cold' is the wordplay.
'singer' becomes 'bass' (bass is a kind of singer).
'going round' is an insertion indicator (some letters go around others).
'island' becomes 'i' (geographical abbreviation).
'cold' becomes 'C' (eg on taps).
'i'+'c'='ic'
'bass' going around 'ic' is 'BASICS'.
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for basics that I've seen before include "Essential principles" , "Fundamentals, starting-points" , "Rudiments" .)