Goodness, what a shame about the late closure! (5)
I believe the answer is:
piety
'goodness' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a shame about the late closure' is the wordplay.
'a shame' becomes 'pity' (synonyms).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'closure' suggests the final letters (the letter which closes the word).
The final letter of 'late' is 'e'.
'pity' going around 'e' is 'PIETY'.
'what' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for piety that I've seen before include "religious behaviour" , "Reverent quality" , "State of being devout in religion" , "Reverence for a god" , "Quality of devoutness" .)