Policemen reported rather sticky situation? (5)
I believe the answer is:
copse
'rather sticky situation?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'policemen reported' is the wordplay.
'policemen' becomes 'cops' (cop is a kind of policeman).
'reported' becomes 'e' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'cops'+'e'='COPSE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for copse that I've seen before include "Wood - thicket" , "Small thicket" , "Dense thicket of trees" , "Harvested woodland" , "A little wood" .)