Attorney in play before midnight (5)
I believe the answer is:
today
'midnight' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to time as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'attorney in play before' is the wordplay.
'attorney' becomes 'DA' (abbreviation for District Attorney).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'play before' becomes 'toy' (synonyms. I am not sure about the 'before' bit.).
'da' put inside 'toy' is 'TODAY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for today that I've seen before include "Current period of 24 hours" , "The present time or age" , "At the present time, in general" , "Modern times" , "Nowadays" .)