Artist's drunk, unable to start (5)
I believe the answer is:
lotto
'start' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'artist's drunk unable to' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'to' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lot' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lotto that I've seen before include "Game of chance similar to bingo" , "Lucky draw" , "National gambling game" , "chancy business" , "Game like bingo" .)