Home ground a short distance into Derby? (7)
I believe the answer is:
habitat
'home ground' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a short distance into derby?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'short' could be 'bit' and 'bit' is present in the answer.
'derby?' could be 'hat' (derby is a kind of hat) and 'hat' is present in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for habitat that I've seen before include "Natural home or haunt" , "Natural home of wildlife" , "Natural home of a plant or animal" , "Home ground of an animal" , "Animal's natural home" .)