Hope rapidly dwindles for Tosca, say (5)
I believe the answer is:
opera
'tosca say' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'hope rapidly dwindles' is the wordplay.
'OPERA' is hidden in amongst the letters.
But, I am unsure how the hidden word is indicated.
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opera that I've seen before include "Eg, Carmen" , "Glyndebourne production" , "Macbeth, say" , "works in Latin" , "Verdi work?" .)