Fine Democrat punched by expert stood opposite (5)
I believe the answer is:
faced
'stood opposite' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'fine democrat punched by expert' is the wordplay.
'fine' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'democrat' becomes 'd'.
'punched by' indicates putting letters inside.
'expert' becomes 'ace' (ace is a kind of expert).
'f'+'d'='fd'
'fd' going around 'ace' is 'FACED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for faced that I've seen before include "Met" , "Dealt with" , "Resisted" , "Encountered" , "Stood up to" .)