Bess prays desperately but none of them will stop (7-2)
I believe the answer is:
passers-by
'none of them will stop' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.
'bess prays desperately' is the wordplay.
'desperately' indicates anagramming the letters.
'bess'+'prays'='bessprays'
'bessprays' anagrammed gives 'PASSERS-BY'.
'but' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for passers-by that I've seen is " They keep walking, and don't stop to take an interest".)