Masculine pieces (3)
I believe the answer is:
men
'pieces' is the definition.
(e.g. in chess)
'masculine' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'masculine' could be 'm' and 'm' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'en' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for men that I've seen before include "- - -o'-war (ships)" , "Crew" , "Adult males" , "'So many ..., so many opinions'" , "Human males" .)