Game often linked with failure, initially (4)
I believe the answer is:
golf
'game' is the definition.
(golf is an example)
'often linked with failure initially' is the wordplay.
'often linked' becomes 'gol' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'failure' is 'f'.
'gol'+'f'='GOLF'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for golf that I've seen before include "Something played" , "Game involving woods and irons" , "a round or two?" , "Comms code for G" , "Outdoor game" .)