Parking truck, one long part of the operation? (11)
I believe the answer is:
participant
'the operation?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'parking truck one long' is the wordplay.
'parking' becomes 'p' (abbreviation on road signs).
'truck' becomes 'artic' (short for articulated lorry).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'long' becomes 'pant' (I've seen this in other clues).
'p'+'artic'+'i'+'pant'='PARTICIPANT'
'part of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for participant that I've seen before include "Competitor" , "One actively involved" , "Actor" , "player" , "One getting involved in something" .)