Cry, 'Tone on TV set about to be blackballed' (4,2,8)
I believe the answer is:
sent to coventry
'blackballed' is the definition.
The answer and definition are different parts of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives can sometimes mean the same thing.
'cry tone on tv set about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cry'+'tone'+'on'+'tv'+'set'='crytoneontvset'
'crytoneontvset' with letters rearranged gives 'SENT TO COVENTRY'.
'to be' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sent to coventry that I've seen before include "deliberately ignored by everyone" , "like London journalists covering Lady Godiva?" , "Shunned" .)