Pole went searching but was sidetracked (7)
I believe the answer is:
shunted
'sidetracked' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'pole went searching but' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'pole' could be 's' (abbreviation for South, as in South Pole) and 's' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hunted' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'was' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shunted that I've seen before include "Moved aside" , "Moved to one side" .)