After some smoking, figure turning up means to catch some in school? (7)
I believe the answer is:
dragnet
'to catch some in school?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'after some smoking figure turning up' is the wordplay.
'after some smoking' becomes 'drag' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'figure' becomes 'ten' (ten is a number).
'turning up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'ten' backwards is 'net'.
'drag'+'net'='DRAGNET'
'means' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dragnet that I've seen before include "Granted (anag.); police search" , "Comprehensive search" , "Systematic search (for criminals)" , "Intense police search for suspect" , "Seabed trawl" .)