Criticise the possibility of a debt on it? (5)
I believe the answer is:
slate
'criticise' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'possibility of a debt on it?' is the wordplay.
'possibility of a debt' becomes 'slae' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' indicates putting letters inside (as in clothing 'on' a person).
'slae' placed around 't' is 'SLATE'.
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for slate that I've seen before include "Roofing material or credit recorder" , "Run down" , "Grey stone; tab" , "Scold; hard rock" , "Grey metamorphic rock" .)