Delayed going north to meet married copper? (5)
I believe the answer is:
metal
'copper?' is the definition.
(copper is a kind of metal)
'delayed going north to meet married' is the wordplay.
'delayed' becomes 'late' (I've seen this before).
'going north' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'to meet' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'married' becomes 'm'.
'late' reversed gives 'etal'.
'etal' put after 'm' is 'METAL'.
(Other definitions for metal that I've seen before include "Copper or gold, say" , "Headbanger's music genre" , "Broken stones" , "Given lead, perhaps" , "lead as one" .)