Tips clung desperately when carving (9)
I believe the answer is:
sculpting
'carving' is the definition.
(sculpting is a kind of carving)
'tips clung desperately' is the wordplay.
'desperately' is an anagram indicator.
'tips'+'clung'='tipsclung'
'tipsclung' is an anagram of 'SCULPTING'.
'when' is the link.
(Another definition for sculpting that I've seen is " artistic activity".)
I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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