Sound less inclined to escape? (2,4,4)
I believe the answer is:
in good nick
'less inclined to escape?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'sound' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'sound' could be 'good' ('good' can be a synonym of 'sound') and 'good' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for in good nick that I've seen before include "Well cared for" , "healthy" , "Well looked after" , "Where honest cops are based" , "Fit" .)