Crossword Genius

'Grand' and 'most ancient' describe wings of Christopher Wren? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

goldcrest

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'wren?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'grand and most ancient describe wings of christopher' is the wordplay.
'grand' becomes 'g' (G is short for grand as in a thousand).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'most ancient' becomes 'oldest' ('old' can be similar in meaning to 'ancient').
'describe' is an insertion indicator.
'wings of' suggests removing the centre (letters on the two wings removed).
'christopher' with its middle taken out is 'cr'.
'oldest' placed around 'cr' is 'oldcrest'.
'g'+'oldcrest'='GOLDCREST'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for goldcrest that I've seen before include "Britain's smallest bird" , "Frequent flier" , "Very small bird" , "Winger" , "Little bird" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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