Observed man taking politician to island (7)
I believe the answer is:
empiric
'observed' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are adjectives, I can't see how one could define the other.
'man taking politician to island' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'eric' (I've seen this before).
'taking' is an insertion indicator.
'politician' becomes 'MP' (Member of Parliament).
'to island' becomes 'i' (geographical abbreviation).
'mp'+'i'='mpi'
'eric' enclosing 'mpi' is 'EMPIRIC'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for empiric that I've seen before include "Derived from experiment and observation rather than theory" , "Based on experience" , "medical quack" , "working by trial and error" , "Old quack doctor" .)