For the audition, was the coach tense? (4)
I believe the answer is:
taut
'the coach tense?' is the definition.
'taut' can be an answer for 'tense?' (I've seen this before). I'm not sure about the 'the coach' bit.
'for the audition' is the wordplay.
'for' becomes 'to' (eg both can mean 'in the opinion of').
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'audition' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue (I've seen 'of audition' mean this (audition can mean hearing)).
'to'+'t'='tot'
'tot' sounds like 'TAUT'.
'was' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for taut that I've seen before include "Pulled or drawn tight" , "Stretched tight or disciplined" , "Tightly drawn" , "seaworthy" , "Tense, stretched tight" .)