Hammered axe in New Forest or river (3,5,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
the worse for wear
'hammered' is the definition.
(both can mean in a bad condition)
'axe in new forest or river' is the wordplay.
'axe' becomes 'hew' (I've seen this before).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'new' indicates anagramming the letters.
'river' becomes 'wear' (I've seen this before).
'forest' anagrammed gives '[forest]'.
'[forest]'+'or'='torsefor'
'hew' inserted inside 'torsefor' is 'theworsefor'.
'theworsefor'+'wear'='THE WORSE FOR WEAR'
(Other definitions for the worse for wear that I've seen before include "Drunk (colloq.)" , "Shabby; drunk" , "Tired and emotional" .)