Oscar follows blokes into dodgy bar having left work (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
dime novel
'work' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'oscar follows blokes into dodgy bar having left' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'oscar' could be 'o' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'o' is found within the answer.
'blokes' could be 'men' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'men' is located in the answer.
'bar' could be 'dive' (dive is a kind of bar) and 'dive' is present in the leftover letters.
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dime novel that I've seen before include "melodramatic story" , "American romance, say" , "Cheap literature" .)