Make a mess of date coated in soya bean paste (5)
I believe the answer is:
misdo
'make a mess of' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'date coated in soya bean paste' is the wordplay.
'date' becomes 'd' (common abbreviation eg in DOB, date of birth).
'coated in' indicates putting letters inside.
'soya bean paste' becomes 'miso' (I've seen this before).
'd' put into 'miso' is 'MISDO'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for misdo that I've seen before include "Perform improperly" , "Perform wrongly" .)