Facing equivalent challenges, as punter and companion may be (2,3,4,4)
I believe the answer is:
in the same boat
'facing equivalent challenges' is the definition.
(people in the same boat face the same problems)
'as punter and companion may be' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'as' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'be' could be 'am' and 'am' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for in the same boat that I've seen before include "Subject to identical circumstances" , "Suffering similar circumstances" , "like the Owl and the Pussy-Cat" , "Sharing a situation" , "Similarly situated" .)