(Awake again) @ thea: "I've never heard of that beast" ---
if you google "cryptic definition crossword", at 6.9 you will discover it's probably the oldest kind of cryptic clue around (e.g. "flower of London"). The dispute rather reminds me of Orwell's rules for writing, the last one being "break any/all of these rules to avoid anything outright barbarous". In other words, use your "common-sense". All attempts in the past to categorize what is supposed to be a valid type of clue I always found ultimately ridiculous. Araucaria defied such categorization regularly. But then of course Araucaria's genius is not recognized by all. In the case in hand AB's usual succinct style produced a clue that could without doubt be solved, and was witty. What more can you want? (btw for other reasons I voted for a different one).