Victorian essayist's half-hearted idle chat? (5)
I believe the answer is:
pater
'idle chat?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'victorian essayist's half-hearted' is the wordplay.
'victorian essayist' becomes 'pate' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'half' becomes 'first half' (first half is a kind of half).
'hearted' indicates the central letters.
The middle of 'first' is 'r'.
'pate'+'r'='PATER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pater that I've seen before include "Walter --, English essayist; father" , "Our Father - . . . . . Noster" , "Taper away like father" , "Old man" , "Dad (Latin)" .)