Clubs or spades in play? (5)
I believe the answer is:
irons
'clubs' is the definition.
(iron is a kind of club)
'or spades in play?' is the wordplay.
'spades' becomes 's' (abbreviation in card games).
'play?' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'play' mean this).
'or'+'s'+'in'='orsin'
'orsin' anagrammed gives 'IRONS'.
(Other definitions for irons that I've seen before include "Don't have too many in the fire at the same time" , "Presses clothes" , "cuffs" , "Golfclubs with metal hands" , "Don't have too many in the fire, we're told" .)