He remains in the running for a long time (6)
I believe the answer is:
stayer
'he remains in the running for a long time' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'he remains in the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'he' could be 'sayer' and 'sayer' is located in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stayer that I've seen before include "Person with endurance, doesn't fall away" , "Tenacious steed" , "Horse (or person) that can go the distance" , "Horse with endurance" , "marathon man" .)