Rodent entertaining retreating cat with hard whiskers (9)
I believe the answer is:
moustache
'hard whiskers' is the definition.
'moustache' can be an answer for 'whiskers' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'hard' bit.
'rodent entertaining retreating cat' is the wordplay.
'rodent' becomes 'mouse' (mouse is a kind of rodent).
'entertaining' indicates putting letters inside.
'retreating cat' becomes 'tach' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'mouse' placed around 'tach' is 'MOUSTACHE'.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for moustache that I've seen before include "Facial hair touches Ma" , "Facial adornment" , "Walrus, e.g." , "Facial feature" , "Food trap" .)