Do in marquee finally finishes when public house axes it, sealing off area (10)
I believe the answer is:
asphyxiate
'do in marquee' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I can't see how one could define the other.
'finally finishes when public house axes it sealing off area' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
'house' could be 'h' and 'h' is located in the answer.
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is located in the answer.
'area' could be 'a' (maths abbreviation) and 'a' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for asphyxiate that I've seen before include "Choke (to death)" , "Smother" , "Suffocate" .)