Smelly line of soldiers anger female at front (12)
I believe the answer is:
frankincense
'smelly line' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'of soldiers anger female at front' is the wordplay.
'of soldiers' becomes 'rank' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'anger' becomes 'incense' (to incense is make angry).
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'at front' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go in front of others).
'rank'+'incense'='rankincense'
'rankincense' put after 'f' is 'FRANKINCENSE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for frankincense that I've seen before include "Nativity gift; aromatic tree resin" , "Source of pleasant scent" , "Aromatic gum resin - an original Christmas present!" , "Birthday gift" , "present at birth" .)