Contracting to record some Wagnerian operas (8)
I believe the answer is:
tapering
'contracting' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'record some wagnerian operas' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'record' could be 'tape' (synonyms) and 'tape' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ring' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tapering that I've seen before include "thinning out" , "Becoming less" , "Narrowing to a point" , "Becoming gradually narrower like some candles (8)" , "getting less and less" .)