Horny material in W. H. Auden's introduction upset Nobel committee ultimately (9)
I believe the answer is:
whalebone
'horny material' is the definition.
'whalebone' can be an answer for 'material' (whalebone is a kind of material). I'm not sure about the 'horny' bit.
'w h auden's introduction upset nobel committee ultimately' is the wordplay.
'introduction' suggests taking the first letters.
'upset' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'ultimately' says to take the final letters.
The initial letter of 'audens' is 'a'.
The final letter of 'committee' is 'e'.
'nobel' written backwards gives 'lebon'.
'w'+'h'+'a'+'lebon'+'e'='WHALEBONE'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for whalebone that I've seen before include "Stiffener made from sea beast" , "Spoilt, over-indulged" , "It was formerly used for corset stays" , "It could make stay" .)