Route to a possible thaw in pay restriction (7)
I believe the answer is:
pathway
'route' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'possible thaw in pay restriction' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'thaw' is 'athw' which is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pay' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to a' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pathway that I've seen before include "A trodden track" , "Walking track" , "route? ..." .)