Interwoven material mine that captivates the French (5)
I believe the answer is:
plait
'interwoven material' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'mine that captivates the french' is the wordplay.
'mine' becomes 'pit' (down the pit).
'that captivates' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the french' becomes 'la'.
'pit' placed around 'la' is 'PLAIT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plait that I've seen before include "Hairdo formed by braiding" , "Braided pigtail" , "Interlaced length of hair" , "Stranded length of hair" , "Hair braid" .)