Little one played near older relative in the pits? (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
baby grand
'little one played near older relative in the pits?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'little one played near older relative in the' is the wordplay.
'little one' becomes 'baby' (I've seen this in another clue).
'played near' becomes 'd' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'older relative' becomes 'gran' (grandmother).
'in the' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'baby'+'d'='babyd'
'babyd' enclosing 'gran' is 'BABY GRAND'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for baby grand that I've seen before include "message of proud new parents?" , "Smaller piano" , "Infant piano?" , "Instrument" , "Small, non-upright piano" .)