East Sussex town possesses elements husband overlooked (8)
I believe the answer is:
hastings
'east sussex town' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how one could define the other.
'possesses elements husband overlooked' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'possesses' could be 'has' ('have' can be a synonym of 'possess') and 'has' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'tings' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hastings that I've seen before include "East Sussex seaside resort" , "Sussex battle" , "Town in East Sussex" , "South coast resort" , "Decisive English battle in 1066" .)