Their parents' pride and joy (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
lion cubs
'their parents' pride' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'and joy' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is located in the answer.
'joy' could be 'io' and 'io' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lion cubs that I've seen before include "Babies of pride" , "Young carnivores" .)