Frequently loses points when contracted (5)
I believe the answer is:
often
'frequently' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'loses points when contracted' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'points' could be 'en' (compass points east and north) and 'en' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'oft' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for often that I've seen before include "Repeatedly, many times" , "Quite frequently" , "on many occasions" , "Commonly" , "A lot" .)