Sailor joins a Scotsman on the roads (6)
I believe the answer is:
tarmac
'the roads' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'sailor joins a scotsman' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (tar can mean a sailor).
'joins' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a scotsman' becomes 'mac'.
'tar'+'mac'='TARMAC'
'on' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tarmac that I've seen before include "Topping" , "Surfaced area as for planes to take off and land" , "black one" , "short runway, perhaps" , "spread on airport runway" .)