Topless dance in clubs twice lifted spirit (6)
I believe the answer is:
cognac
'topless dance' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'in clubs twice lifted spirit' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation used in card games such as bridge).
'twice' becomes 'nac' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'lifted' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (going up in down clue).
'spirit' becomes 'go'.
'go' reversed gives 'og'.
'c'+'nac'='cnac'
'cnac' going around 'og' is 'COGNAC'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cognac that I've seen before include "Brandy as for Napoleon (6)." , "strong drink" , "French brandy region" , "High quality brandy" , "High-quality brandy" .)