Significance of ring, perhaps, and why it isn't answered (7,6)

'answered' is the definition.
The answer and definition are different parts of speech. However, adjectives and past participle verbs sometimes mean the same thing.

'significance of ring perhaps and why it isn't' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
'perhaps' could be 'eg' (for example) and 'eg' is found within the remaining letters.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...