Wind each alarm after a day — but fail to hear them? (4,1,4,3)
I believe the answer is:
turn a deaf ear
'fail to hear them?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'wind each alarm after a day' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'wind' could be 'turn' and 'turn' is located in the answer.
'each' could be 'ea' (abbreviation) and 'ea' is present in the answer.
'alarm' could be 'fear' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'fear' is found in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
'day' could be 'd' (abbreviation for day) and 'd' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'but' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for turn a deaf ear that I've seen before include "Pretend not to hear" , "Pay no attention" , "Refuse to listen" , "Pretend not to have heard" .)