Fellow beginning to operate axes, following objective of hunt (4)
I believe the answer is:
foxy
'objective of hunt' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'fellow beginning to operate axes' is the wordplay.
'fellow' becomes 'f' (abbreviation - of a society etc.).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
'axes' becomes 'xy' (x axis and y axis).
The initial letter of 'operate' is 'o'.
'f'+'o'+'xy'='FOXY'
'following' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for foxy that I've seen before include "Sly -- sexy" , "tricky" , "Clever in vulpine manner" , "Vulpine; sly" , "Crafty; (paper) mildewed" .)