Foolishly touches the cat: take out the flannel (3,2,3,5)
I believe the answer is:
cut to the chase
'out the flannel' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'foolishly touches the cat' is the wordplay.
'foolishly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'touches'+'the'+'cat'='touchesthecat'
'touchesthecat' anagrammed gives 'CUT TO THE CHASE'.
'take' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cut to the chase that I've seen before include "'Stop beating about the bush!'" , "Get to the point" , "Start discussing important matters" .)