Copper back on a diet cooked without guidance (9)
I believe the answer is:
education
'guidance' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'copper back on a diet cooked without' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'copper' could be 'd' and 'd' is found in the answer.
'on' could be 'at' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'at' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for education that I've seen before include "Theory and practice of teaching" , "Series of activities that impart knowledge or skill" , "New Labour mantra, when repeated" , "studies" , "Teaching process" .)