Turncoat Yankee hosting Poles for a short time (10)
I believe the answer is:
transitory
'short time' is the definition.
'transitory' can be an answer for 'short' (thesaurus). I'm not sure about the 'time' bit.
'turncoat yankee hosting poles' is the wordplay.
'turncoat' becomes 'traitor' (I've seen this in another clue).
'yankee' becomes 'Y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'hosting' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are welcomed in or hosted).
'poles' becomes 'NS' (north and south poles).
'traitor'+'y'='traitory'
'traitory' going around 'ns' is 'TRANSITORY'.
'for a' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for transitory that I've seen before include "lasting long" , "Ephemeral" , "Here-today-gone-tomorrow" , "Brief" , "Fleeting" .)