Note time absorbed in handicraft (8)
I believe the answer is:
crotchet
'handicraft' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'note time absorbed in' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'c' (musical note).
'time' becomes 't'.
'absorbed' becomes 'rotche' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'c'+'t'='ct'
'ct' going around 'rotche' is 'CROTCHET'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crotchet that I've seen before include "Quarter of a semibreve" , "Two quavers as one note" , "Peacock's castle" , "perverse notion" , "Musical note equal to half a minim" .)