Many a target will make demands (5)
I believe the answer is:
claim
'make demands' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'many a target' is the wordplay.
'many a' becomes 'cl' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'target' becomes 'aim' (both can mean a goal or purpose).
'cl'+'aim'='CLAIM'
'will' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for claim that I've seen before include "Put in for" , "Assertion of ownership etc" , "Formal request" , "Assert; request" , "Assertion of right" .)