Fortune belonging to woman Spooner declared bankrupt (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
lame duck
'bankrupt' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'fortune belonging to woman spooner declared' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'woman' could be 'ame' and 'ame' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lame duck that I've seen before include "Ineffective government can be a limping water-bird" , "One is inefficient, like a limping water-bird" , "does one need help from PDSA?" , "Feeble person" , "Ineffectual person or thing" .)