Special regret when taking top off coconut tree (6)
I believe the answer is:
spruce
'tree' is the definition.
(spruce is a kind of tree)
'special regret when taking top off coconut' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'special' could be 'sp' (abbreviation) and 'sp' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spruce that I've seen before include "Trim - conifer" , "wood" , "Neat and dapper tree" , "Coniferous tree" , "Well-groomed - tree" .)