Get the total to make sense? (3,2)
I believe the answer is:
add up
'make sense?' is the definition.
('add up' can be a synonym of 'make sense')
'get the total' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'total' could be 'add' (synonyms) and 'add' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'up' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for add up that I've seen before include "Sum - make sense" , "tot" , "Put together (numbers)" , "Do sums" , "Make sense; count" .)