A thin mixture is a poor answer to the problem (4,8)

'a thin mixture is a poor answer to the problem' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'thin mixture is a poor answer to the problem' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'thin' could be 'weak' (similar in meaning) and 'weak' is present in the answer.
'mixture' could be 'solution' (solution is a kind of mixture) and 'solution' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?