Starts to tearfully recite Buddhist mantra over remains - they’re in the pit (9)
I believe the answer is:
trombones
'starts' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'tearfully recite buddhist mantra over remains they're in the pit' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'over' could be 'on' (physically on top of) and 'on' is located in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for trombones that I've seen before include "Seventy six were noted!" , "Brass instruments" , "Their slides have seven positions" .)