Shorten essay, trimming new clause? (11)
I believe the answer is:
parenthesis
'clause?' is the definition.
(I know that parenthesis is a type of clause)
'shorten essay trimming new' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'shorten' could be 'pare' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'pare' is found within the answer.
'essay' could be 'thesis' (I've seen this before) and 'thesis' is found within the answer.
'new' could be 'n' (abbreviation as in New Testament NT) and 'n' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for parenthesis that I've seen before include "phrase by way of explanation" , "Bracket" , "Extra words" , "interval" , "Words contained" .)