Trouble the hotelier will be in if it's not on tap? (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
hot water
'trouble' is the definition.
(to get in hot water is to get in trouble)
'the hotelier will be in if it's not on tap?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'not' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'on' could be 'at' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'at' is present in the answer.
'tap?' could be 'h' (H for the hot tap) and 'h' is found within the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hot water that I've seen before include "A state of trouble" , "that comes at bath time?" , "Predicament to be avoided (informal)" , "Possible boiler" , "Taps contents" .)