Did she get a ruby when she got engaged to put others off the hunt? (3,7)
I believe the answer is:
red herring
'hunt?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'did she get a ruby when she got engaged to put others off' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'she' could be 'her' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'her' is found within the answer.
'ruby' could be 'red' (synonyms) and 'red' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ring' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for red herring that I've seen before include "Cover" , "Diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue" , "An irrelevance" , "It may well put you off" , "Irrelevant topic" .)