Wangle dead ends into new life! (6)
I believe the answer is:
fiddle
'wangle' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'dead ends into new life' is the wordplay.
'ends' suggests removing the centre.
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'new' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dead' with its centre removed is 'dd'.
'life' with letters rearranged gives 'file'.
'dd' inserted inside 'file' is 'FIDDLE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fiddle that I've seen before include "Trivial things" , "Sham" , "One's played" , "doctor" , "Stringed instrument - cheat" .)