Wind direction with benefit outside (5)
I believe the answer is:
snake
'wind' is the definition.
(snaking is a kind of winding)
'direction with benefit outside' is the wordplay.
'direction with' becomes 'n' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'benefit' becomes 'sake' (sake is a kind of benefit).
'outside' is an insertion indicator (some letters go outside others).
'n' put within 'sake' is 'SNAKE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for snake that I've seen before include "Limbless reptile" , "Asp, perhaps?" , "Long slender reptile" , "Serpent" , "Wind" .)