Riot in court compound is initiated by judge (6)
I believe the answer is:
jester
'riot in court' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'compound is initiated by judge' is the wordplay.
'compound' becomes 'ester' (ester is a kind of compound).
'is initiated by' says to put letters next to each other (some letters go at the start of others).
'judge' becomes 'J' (abbreviation for judge).
'ester' put after 'j' is 'JESTER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for jester that I've seen before include "Clown employed to entertain a ruler" , "one entertaining in court" , "Funny man in olden courts" , "Comic" , "Court joker" .)