Witty yet tasteful remark about an officer (5)
I believe the answer is:
salty
'witty' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'tasteful remark about an officer' is the wordplay.
'tasteful remark' becomes 'say' (to remark something is to say it. I am not sure about the 'tasteful' bit.).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'an officer' becomes 'lt' (abbreviation for lieutenant).
'say' placed around 'lt' is 'SALTY'.
'yet' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for salty that I've seen before include "Piquant" , "Saline" , "Engagingly stimulating or provocative" , "Brackish" , "Sharp (language, humour)" .)