Make amends early in the afternoon? (5)
I believe the answer is:
atone
'make amends' is the definition.
(to atone is to make amends for a wrong deed)
'early in the afternoon?' 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 in the answer.
'afternoon?' could be 'a' (abbreviation) and 'a' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'one' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for atone that I've seen before include "Make up, compensate (for)" , "Adopt a cause" , "Make amends (for something)" , "Make up for wrong done" , "In agreement - sounds singular" .)