Do retiring children expect the chap to have grit? (7)
I believe the answer is:
sandman
'do retiring children' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'expect the chap to have grit?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'chap' could be 'man' (chap can mean a man) and 'man' is located in the answer.
'grit?' could be 'sand' ('sand' can be a synonym of 'grit') and 'sand' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sandman that I've seen before include "Sender to sleep of children" , "Imaginary person who causes children to sleep" , "Who could send you to sleep" , "sleepy character?" , "Fictional character" .)