This is a container clue - look for indicators like 'around', 'holding', 'outside', 'embracing' where one part wraps around another
One part goes inside or around another
Answer: ICONIC | Definition: 'Admired' | Wordplay: A charade of ICONI, an envelope (‘about’) of CON (‘study’) in II (Roman numeral 2, ‘pair’); plus C (chemical symbol, ‘carbon’).