Literary master chewing off chicken piece in roll (9)
I believe the answer is:
rochester
'roll' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'literary master chewing off chicken piece in' is the wordplay.
'literary master' becomes 'roster' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'off' suggests deleting specific letters ('off' can mean to remove).
'chicken piece' becomes 'wing' (I've seen this in another clue).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'chewing' with 'wing' taken out is 'che'.
'roster' placed around 'che' is 'ROCHESTER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rochester that I've seen before include "Bronte character" , "Madwoman's husband" , "Kentish Town" , "Jane Eyre accepted" , "Kent cathedral city" .)