Spinning out half a week in Gateshead (5)
I believe the answer is:
eking
'spinning out' is the definition.
The definition suggests a verb in its base form which matches the answer.
'half a week in gateshead' is the wordplay.
'half a' suggests halving the letters.
'gateshead' becomes 'g' (head letter of 'gates').
'week' cut in half is 'ek'.
'ek'+'in'+'g'='EKING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eking that I've seen before include "Squeezing (out)" , "With difficulty, making" , "... stretching" , "Making last longer by careful use" , "eg Kin (anag.)" .)