Setter a good deal curtailed after imbibing whisky? It’s a crude tale (9)
I believe the answer is:
melodrama
'a crude tale' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'setter a good deal curtailed after imbibing whisky?' is the wordplay.
'setter' becomes 'me' (the setter of the clue).
'a good deal' becomes 'lot' ('lot' can be a synonym of 'good deal').
'curtailed' means to remove the last letter.
'after imbibing whisky?' becomes 'drama' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'lot' with its last letter taken away is 'lo'.
'me'+'lo'+'drama'='MELODRAMA'
'it's' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for melodrama that I've seen before include "Old play in emotional and sensational style" , "Sensational theatre piece" , "emotive stuff" , "Play of extravagant action" , "Sensational entertainment" .)