Page cutting a clergyman off (5)
I believe the answer is:
recto
'page' is the definition.
(right-hand page of an open book)
'cutting a clergyman off' is the wordplay.
'cutting' means to remove the last letter.
'a clergyman' becomes 'rev' (short for reverend).
'off' becomes 'cto' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rev' with its final letter taken off is 're'.
're'+'cto'='RECTO'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for recto that I've seen before include "One page" , "front page" , "Side of paper" , "one side" , "The right-hand page or leaf of a book" .)