Drops from hard work (12)
I believe the answer is:
perspiration
'drops from hard work' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'from hard work' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is located in the answer.
'work' could be 'rat' (ratting is a kind of working) and 'rat' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for perspiration that I've seen before include "Ninety nine percent of genius" , "is exuded" , "Sweat" .)