Backing singer of swing, Yankee jazz fan and wild thing (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
alley cat
'wild thing' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'backing singer of swing yankee jazz fan' is the wordplay.
'backing' is a reversal indicator.
'singer of swing' becomes 'ella' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'yankee' becomes 'Y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'jazz fan' becomes 'cat' (slang term for a jazz fan).
'ella' in reverse letter order is 'alle'.
'alle'+'y'+'cat'='ALLEY-CAT'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alley cat that I've seen before include "homeless creature" , "Stray mog" , "Stray urban feline" , "Homeless feline" , "City feline that prowls the back lanes" .)