A backwater that's far from sleepy? (5)
I believe the answer is:
awake
'far from sleepy?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'a backwater' is the wordplay.
'backwater' becomes 'wake' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'wake'='AWAKE'
'that's' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for awake that I've seen before include "Make active again" , "Alive and alert" , "Conscious and (usually) open-eyed" , "On the ball?" , "Unable to sleep" .)