Borstal boy has a reputation for fighting locally with one of those attending the abbey
I believe the answer is:
playgoer
'the abbey' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.
'borstal boy has a reputation for fighting locally with one of those attending' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'boy' could be 'lay' and 'lay' is found in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for playgoer that I've seen before include "Theatre attender" , "One who's regularly seen in theatre" , "Theatre fan" , "who likes a bit of drama?" , "He likes the Theatre" .)