Burn the tea, say (4)
I believe the answer is:
char
'burn' is the definition.
(charring is a kind of burning)
'tea say' is the wordplay.
'tea' becomes 'cha' (cha is a type of tea).
'say' becomes 'r' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cha'+'r'='CHAR'
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for char that I've seen before include "Fish < tea" , "Burn slightly" , "Partially burn; fish" , "Overcook - fish - daily" , "House cleaner" .)