Come a cropper as winter starts? (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
fall over
'come a cropper as winter starts?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'come a cropper as' is the wordplay.
'come' becomes 'fall' (synonyms).
'a cropper as' becomes 'over' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'fall'+'over'='FALL OVER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fall over that I've seen before include "collapse" , "Trip" , "Take a tumble" .)