Problem giving Northern US prosecutor right to probe wharf (8)
I believe the answer is:
quandary
'problem' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'northern us prosecutor right to probe wharf' is the wordplay.
'northern' becomes 'n' (abbreviation e.g. N. Ireland).
'us prosecutor' becomes 'da' (district attorney).
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'to probe' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'wharf' becomes 'quay' (quay is a kind of wharf).
'n'+'da'+'r'='ndar'
'ndar' placed into 'quay' is 'QUANDARY'.
'giving' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for quandary that I've seen before include "Problem" , "awkward situation" , "State of uncertainty as to action to take" , "State of perplexity in difficult situation" , "Dilemma, a state of perplexity" .)