Muscle was wasted with author finding substantial growth (6,9)
I believe the answer is:
walrus moustache
'substantial growth' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'muscle was wasted with author' is the wordplay.
'wasted with' indicates anagramming the letters.
'muscle'+'was'='musclewas'
'musclewas' with its letters mixed up with 'author' can make 'WALRUS MOUSTACHE'.
'finding' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for walrus moustache that I've seen before include "Hairy thing" , "hair" .)