Spooner's dispatched for a tinkle like the owl and the pussycat did (4,2,3)
I believe the answer is:
went to sea
'spooner's dispatched' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'for a tinkle like the owl and the pussycat did' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'for' could be 'to' (eg both can mean 'in the opinion of') and 'to' is present in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?