Note Europe's backing Philistine's approval of Matilda? (9)
I believe the answer is:
pseudonym
'matilda?' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'note europe's backing philistine's approval' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'note' could be 'ps' (a PS or postscript in a letter) and 'ps' is found in the answer.
'approval' could be 'do' (DO is an example) and 'do' is found in the answer.
'europe' could be 'eu' (European Union) and 'eu' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'nym' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pseudonym that I've seen before include "Name adopted by someone for a particular role" , "Pen-name" , "Boz was for Dickens" , "Adopted fictitious name" , "Alias" .)