Crossword Genius

Whence to phone that the pair are out for a duck (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

booth

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a duck' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'whence to phone that the pair are out' is the wordplay.
I cannot really 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.
'pair' could be 'oo' (resembles 00, a pair of ducks in cricket) and 'oo' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for booth that I've seen before include "compartment for voting" , "Kiosk" , "Killer of president" , "Space for voting, phoning, etc" , "Army leader" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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