Top pastry contains ultimate in Himalayan salt, according to chemist (8)
I believe the answer is:
pinnacle
'chemist' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'top pastry contains ultimate in himalayan salt' is the wordplay.
'top pastry' becomes 'pie' (pie is a kind of pastry. I am not sure about the 'top' bit.).
'contains' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ultimate in' indicates one should take the final letters.
'salt' becomes 'NaCl' (NaCl is the chemical formula for sodium chloride).
The last letter of 'himalayan' is 'n'.
'n'+'nacl'='nnacl'
'pie' enclosing 'nnacl' is 'PINNACLE'.
'according to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pinnacle that I've seen before include "The highest point, summit" , "tip-top" , "The highest point, peak" , "Crown" , "Towering peak" .)