Final count? About a thousand making the hard trip (4)
I believe the answer is:
trek
'hard trip' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'final count? about a thousand making the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'about' could be 're' ('re' means regarding or about) and 're' is present in the answer.
'thousand' could be 'k' (synonyms) and 'k' is found in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for trek that I've seen before include "A long arduous march" , "Great journey" , "Long walk in the mountains?" , "Long and difficult journey" , "Footslog" .)