Poorly from lead, one regularly turning back to doctor for solution? (12)
I believe the answer is:
formaldehyde
'solution?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'poorly from lead one regularly turning back to doctor' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'from' is 'form' which is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'lead' is 'alde' which is located in the answer.
'doctor' could be 'd' (eg in PhD, Doctor of Philosophy) and 'd' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hye' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for formaldehyde that I've seen before include "Preservative for biological specimens" , "Gas used as preservative" , "Creatures preserved here" .)