Made to keep one listening and prepared for battle? (9)
I believe the answer is:
forearmed
'prepared for battle?' is the definition.
'forearmed' can be an answer for 'prepared' (thesaurus). I'm not certain of the 'for battle?' bit.
'made to keep one listening' is the wordplay.
'made' becomes 'formed' ('form' can be a synonym of 'make').
'to keep' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'one listening' becomes 'ear' (an ear is something which listens).
'formed' enclosing 'ear' is 'FOREARMED'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for forearmed that I've seen before include "Prepared in advance and" , "Be forewarned and you'll be this" , "Pre-prepared for danger" .)