Plain single male beginning to exercise for extra earnings (8)
I believe the answer is:
overtime
'extra earnings' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'plain single male beginning to exercise' is the wordplay.
'plain' becomes 'overt' (both can mean visible or obvious).
'single' becomes 'I' (one).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'exercise' is 'e'.
'overt'+'i'+'m'+'e'='OVERTIME'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for overtime that I've seen before include "opportunity for supplementing income" , "Pay for extra work" , "Work in excess of fixed period" , "Hours worked in excess of usual" , "Extra hours (at work)" .)