Method at bottom of ladder that may be needed to go up (6)
I believe the answer is:
runway
'method at bottom of ladder that may be needed to go up' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'method at bottom of ladder' is the wordplay.
'method' becomes 'way' (way of doing something).
'at bottom of' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters go underneath others).
'ladder' becomes 'run' (both can mean a tear in tights).
'way' put after 'run' is 'RUNWAY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for runway that I've seen before include "Essential airport feature" , "A plane takes off from it" , "Strip on which planes taxi" , "Where one takes off" , "takeoff point" .)