Retired fireman working with a special buzzer on the wall? (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
mason wasp
'the wall?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'retired fireman working with a special buzzer' is the wordplay.
'retired fireman working' becomes 'mon' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'with' is an insertion indicator.
'special' becomes 'S' (common abbreviation as in Special Air Service).
'buzzer' becomes 'wasp' (something that buzzes).
'a'+'s'='as'
'mon' placed around 'as' is 'mason'.
'mason'+'wasp'='MASON WASP'
'on' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for mason wasp that I've seen is " Insect that constructs a nest of mud or clay".)