Extended rest of career loafers essentially spent at home (3-2)
I believe the answer is:
lie in
'extended rest' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'career loafers essentially spent at home' is the wordplay.
'career loafers' becomes 'li' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
'at home' becomes 'in' ('I'm in' can mean 'I'm at home').
The middle letter of 'spent' is 'e'.
'li'+'e'+'in'='LIE-IN'
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lie in that I've seen before include "Protracted stay in bed" , "Stay late in bed" , "Extended time in bed in the morning" , "Stay longer abed" , "stay longer beneath the sheets" .)