Dead rat at my apartment starts commotion (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'commotion' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'dead rat at my apartment starts' is the wordplay.
'starts' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'dead rat at my apartment' is 'DRAMA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Play - excitement" , "Play, emotional series of events" , "theatre performance" , "Theatrical entertainment" , "spectacle of emotion" .)