One possibly scarlet, going up the pole? (6)
I believe the answer is:
runner
'pole?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'one possibly scarlet going up' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'one' could be 'un' (northern English dialect form of 'one') and 'un' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for runner that I've seen before include "Horse (in a race); bean plant" , "-- bean, vegetable" , "Type of bean for an athlete?" , "Sprinter" , "Green vegetable" .)