What attracts spy chief? Agent whose hidden opponents flip (6)
I believe the answer is:
magnet
'hidden opponents flip' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how one could define the other.
'what attracts spy chief? agent' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'spy' could be 'm' ('M' is James Bond's boss) and 'm' is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'agent' is 'agnet' which is within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'whose' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for magnet that I've seen before include "One that attracts" , "Powerful attractor" , "Something attractive" , "Source of attraction" , "it could be a draw?" .)