Quickly turn back, mainly to find one left on shelf? (8)
I believe the answer is:
spinster
'find one left on shelf?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'quickly turn back mainly' is the wordplay.
'quickly turn' becomes 'spin' (spin around).
'back' becomes 'stern' (stern means the back of a boat).
'mainly' means to remove the last letter (virtually or mainly the word, but not all of it).
'stern' with its final letter removed is 'ster'.
'spin'+'ster'='SPINSTER'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spinster that I've seen before include "She never married" , "Single woman" , "old maid, perhaps" , "woman like Miss Havisham" , "One spurning union activity" .)