Graduate carries the can in the morning (5)
I believe the answer is:
matin
'morning' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'graduate carries the can in' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'graduate' could be 'ma' (abbreviation for Master of Arts) and 'ma' is found in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'in' is within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for matin that I've seen before include "prayer" , "Baby's garment" , "Morning song" .)