How does owl call nurse to a dance party? (9)

I believe the answer is:

hootnanny

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'how does owl call' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'nurse to a dance party?' is the wordplay.
'nurse' becomes 'nanny' (synonyms).
'to a' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'dance party?' becomes 'hoot' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'nanny' put after 'hoot' is 'HOOTNANNY'.

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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