Failure to hang the laundry on the line? (7)
I believe the answer is:
washout
'failure' is the definition.
(I know that washout is a type of failure)
'hang the laundry on the line?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'laundry' could be 'wash' (synonyms) and 'wash' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ou' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for washout that I've seen before include "match abandoned due to rain?" , "A complete failure - rained off? (4-3)" , "Cancelled test, for example" , "Flush" , "Disappointing failure" .)