Note saints when checking church alcove (6)
I believe the answer is:
recess
'alcove' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'note saints when checking church' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'note' could be 're' (as in do-re-mi) and 're' is found within the answer.
'saints' could be 'ss' (an abbreviation for saint written twice) and 'ss' is present in the answer.
'church' could be 'ce' (abbreviation for Church of England) and 'ce' is found within 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 recess that I've seen before include "Pause in business, time out" , "A niche or a temporary business break" , "Temporary break from work" , "break needed!" , "apse perhaps" .)