Gentle touch on posterior? Punched by female, a pioneering spirit (10)
I believe the answer is:
pathfinder
'a pioneering spirit' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'gentle touch on posterior? punched by female' is the wordplay.
'gentle touch' becomes 'pat' (I've seen this in another clue).
'on posterior?' becomes 'hinder' ('hinder' can be similar in meaning to 'posterior'. I am not sure about the 'on' bit.).
'punched by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters punch a hole in others).
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'hinder' enclosing 'f' is 'hfinder'.
'pat'+'hfinder'='PATHFINDER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pathfinder that I've seen before include "Scout" , "One on recce" , "Guide through unexplored territory" , "radar device" , "Trailblazer far in, depth uncertain" .)