To reach perfection gives a writer a bit of a thrill (5)
I believe the answer is:
ripen
'bit of a thrill' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'to reach perfection gives a writer a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'writer' could be 'pen' (I've seen this before) and 'pen' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ripen that I've seen before include "Mature, age" , "Grow older" , "Become ready to pick" , "Get ready to eat" , "Become mature" .)