An advance, we hear, on its own (5)
I believe the answer is:
alone
'its own' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'an advance we hear on' is the wordplay.
'an' becomes 'a'.
'advance' becomes 'loan' (an advance is a loan).
'we hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'loan' sounds like 'lone'.
'a'+'lone'='ALONE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alone that I've seen before include "without partner?" , "Exclusively, by oneself" , "Without anybody or anything else" , "Without others present" , "Lacking company, solitary" .)