Competitive struggle to catch up the Pied Piper? (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
rat race
'competitive struggle' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'catch up the pied piper?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'catch' could be 'rat' (ratting is a kind of catching) and 'rat' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'race' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
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 rat race that I've seen before include "Desert people in" , "hurly-burly of competitive work" , "competitive lifestyle" , "Competitiveness in business - as for rodents?" , "Competitive dash" .)