Flavour is an alternative to energy (5)
I believe the answer is:
anise
'flavour' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'is an alternative to energy' is the wordplay.
'alternative' is an anagram indicator (an alternative ordering of the letters).
'to energy' becomes 'e' (physics symbol as in E=mc2).
'is'+'an'='isan'
'isan' is an anagram of 'anis'.
'anis'+'e'='ANISE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anise that I've seen before include "Plant with liquorice-flavoured seeds" , "Plant providing flavour similar to liquorice" , "Plant with aromatic seeds" , "Herb with aromatic seeds" , "Aromatic Mediterranean plant" .)
