Behind the clock (4)
I believe the answer is:
late
'behind the clock' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'the clock' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lae' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for late that I've seen before include "Previous" , "on time? Not quite" , "Running behind time" , "Teal (anag.)" , "(Of a person) no longer alive" .)