TTN, I'd agree with you if this were a difficult challenge... I don't think it is; it should have been very easy to get from 'staff' to 'pike'.
The clue is pretty clear that some fiddling needed to be done with the end of the word.
If you've read my posts you'll know that there is every sign it will be solved very soon indeed, so I'm puzzled by your remark:
on the other hand this one is now around a fortnight old with no sign of being solved
I'm absolutely astonished we haven't had a correct answer yet.
If everyone is fed up and wants to move on, please do: If a new challenge is posted, I'll post the correct answer to this one, with an explanation. Over to you.