What it is to have a manual (5)
I believe the answer is:
handy
'manual' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'what it is to have a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for handy that I've seen before include "Close by" , "Local - nearby" , "Dexterous" , "Useful - within reach" , "Useful and convenient" .)