Plate hot starter in Raffles: happen to devour that? (6)
I believe the answer is:
chrome
'plate' is the definition.
(chroming is a kind of plating)
'happen to devour that?' is the wordplay.
'happen' becomes 'come' (coming is a kind of happening).
'to devour' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are swallowed or devoured).
'that?' becomes 'hr' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'come' going around 'hr' is 'CHROME'.
'hot starter in raffles' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chrome that I've seen before include "Shiny metallic plating" , "Deep yellow" , "Brilliant finish" , "Feature of bath taps" , "Shiny metallic coating" .)