What has to speed up protection? (6)
I believe the answer is:
toecap
'protection?' is the definition.
(I know that toecap is a type of protection)
'what has to speed up' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'to' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for toecap that I've seen before include "piece of footwear" , "Capote (anag.)" , "Front cover of shoe" , "Boot's metal end" , "part of footwear" .)