100 not entirely competent people backing one that can climb to the top? (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
cable car
'one that can climb to the top?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'100 not entirely competent people backing' is the wordplay.
'100' becomes 'C' (Roman numeral).
'not entirely' means to remove the last letter (most but not all of the word).
'competent' becomes 'able' (similar in meaning).
'people' becomes 'race' (people can mean a national group or race).
'backing' is a reversal indicator.
'race' written backwards gives 'ecar'.
'able' with its last letter taken away is 'abl'.
'c'+'abl'+'ecar'='CABLE-CAR'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cable car that I've seen before include "Funicular vehicle" , "One travelling up" , "Travel system in the mountains" , "that takes one to Snowdon-like heights?" , "Skier's transport" .)