What we said to detectives in retreat (5)
I believe the answer is:
dicta
'what we said to detectives in retreat' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'we said to detectives in retreat' is the wordplay.
'we' becomes 'a' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'said' becomes 't' (I've seen this in other clues).
'to detectives' becomes 'cid'.
'in retreat' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'a'+'t'+'cid'='atcid'
'atcid' backwards is 'DICTA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dicta that I've seen before include "Formal pronouncements" , "Statements" , "Gnomes" .)