Nadal returning? That’s a long way off (4)
I believe the answer is:
afar
'way off' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'nadal returning? that's a long' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'long' could be 'far' (similar in meaning) and 'far' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for afar that I've seen before include "Not in this neighbourhood" , "beyond the horizon" , "(From/at) a great distance" , "Distant, not near" , "from baseline to baseline?" .)