There is the phone the tots were playing with (2,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
on the spot
'there' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'the phone the tots were playing with' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'playing' could be 'on' (on can mean playing or performing) and 'on' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for on the spot that I've seen before include "At a particular place of action" , "In difficulty" , "straight away" , "Present at an event" , "without delay" .)