New person left out? It almost happens! (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
near thing
'new person left' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'out? it almost happens' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'it' could be 'thing' and 'thing' is found within the answer.
'almost' could be 'near' (near can mean almost or virtually) and 'near' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for near thing that I've seen before include "Lucky escape" , "Something that barely avoids failure or disaster" , "Knife-edge event" , "almost an accident" , "Narrow escape, close shave" .)