Is Dawn an early one? (5)
I believe the answer is:
riser
'dawn an early one?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'is' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'is' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for riser that I've seen before include "Section of flight" , "person advancing position?" , "Person getting out of bed" , "Upright piece between steps" , "Vertical part of a stair or step" .)