Apparently making an approach in low spirits and going under (2,3,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
on the way down
'apparently making an' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.
'approach in low spirits and going under' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'approach' could be 'way' (a way of doing something) and 'way' is found within the answer.
'low' could be 'down' (synonyms) and 'down' is present in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'othe' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?