What man in essence and woman in effect both have proverbially to solve the problem immediately? (1,6,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
a stitch in time
'proverbially to solve the problem immediately?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'what man in essence and woman in effect both' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'man' could be 'itch' and 'itch' is present in the answer.
'in' is present in the answer.
'woman' could be 'tim' and 'tim' is located in the answer.
'both' could be 't' (I've seen this in other clues) and 't' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'have' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for a stitch in time that I've seen before include "Nine saver?" , "Something that proverbially saves nine" , "prompt repair" .)