Baffling element of decor (8)
I believe the answer is:
flooring
'decor' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'baffling element of' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'element' could be 'in' (In is an example) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flooring that I've seen before include "Baffling completely, knocking down" , "platform" , "Carpet, wood, etc." , "Carpet or lino, say" , "Material for walking on" .)