Wine left out as a sign of change? (5)
I believe the answer is:
caret
'a sign of change?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'wine left out' is the wordplay.
'wine' becomes 'claret' (claret is a kind of wine).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'out' is a deletion indicator.
'claret' with 'l' removed is 'CARET'.
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for caret that I've seen before include "this reveals something missing" , "Weeding tool" , "Upward arrow mark" , "Indicator of omission" , "Proofreader's sign of omission" .)