Officer on the phone for a place to stay (5)
I believe the answer is:
motel
'a place to stay' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'officer on the phone' is the wordplay.
'officer on' becomes 'mo' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the phone' becomes 'tel' (short for telephone).
'mo'+'tel'='MOTEL'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for motel that I've seen before include "Kind of hostelry for car drivers" , "Lodging for drivers" , "stop on road" , "Accommodation for road travellers" , "Rented accommodation" .)