Stagger to the competition with a pollen collector (9)
I believe the answer is:
bumblebee
'a pollen collector' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'stagger to the competition' is the wordplay.
'stagger' becomes 'bumble' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to the competition' becomes 'bee' (I've seen this before).
'bumble'+'bee'='BUMBLEBEE'
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bumblebee that I've seen before include "social worker" , "Striped buzzer" , "Large furry flying insect" .)