Can they be built to scale by father? (7)
I believe the answer is:
palaces
'can they' is the definition.
The definition suggests a plural noun which matches the answer.
'built to scale by father?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'scale' is 'laces' which is located in the answer.
'father?' could be 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father) and 'pa' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'be' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for palaces that I've seen before include "Royal residences" , "Offical residences of sovereigns" , "kings and queens here?" .)