Basic essentials only half suitable for vegetarian? (4,3,8)
I believe the answer is:
meat and potatoes
'basic' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'essentials only half suitable for vegetarian?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'essentials' could be 'meat' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'meat' is located in the answer.
'for' could be 'to' (eg both can mean 'in the opinion of') and 'to' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for meat and potatoes that I've seen is " Key elements".)