Towelling front half of water tortoise dry, finally (5)
I believe the answer is:
terry
'towelling' is the definition.
(terry is a kind of towelling)
'half of water tortoise dry finally' is the wordplay.
'half of' indicates taking half.
'water tortoise' becomes 'terrapin' (I've seen this before).
'finally' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'dry' is 'y'.
'terrapin' with half the letters taken is 'terr'.
'terr'+'y'='TERRY'
'front' is the link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for terry that I've seen before include "A man" , "Cotton pile fabric used for towels and bath robes" , "Loop of pile fabric; England footballer" , "Towelling material" , "Famous actress" .)