Awful place, we hear, that's complete (5)
I believe the answer is:
whole
'complete' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'awful place we hear' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'place' could be 'hole' (I have seen 'Nasty place ' mean 'hole' so perhaps 'place' could also mean 'hole') and 'hole' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'w' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'that's' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for whole that I've seen before include "undamaged" , "Total" , "Entire, undivided" , "Complete, containing all the parts" , "Integral" .)