Requirement for tennis? Put back half of it (3)
I believe the answer is:
net
'requirement' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how one could define the other.
'tennis? put back half of it' is the wordplay.
'tennis?' becomes 'n' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'put back' becomes 'stet' (publishing term meaning to ignore a change).
'half of it' suggests halving the letters (back).
'stet' with half the letters taken is 'et'.
'n'+'et'='NET'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for net that I've seen before include "Fish-catcher" , "Mesh or web" , "Butterfly trap" , "Capture" , "What separates court opponents" .)