Tacks north and south to circumvent trouble (5)
I believe the answer is:
nails
'tacks' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'north and south to circumvent trouble' is the wordplay.
'north' becomes 'N' (abbreviation).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'south' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'to circumvent' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'trouble' becomes 'ail' (synonyms).
'n'+'s'='ns'
'ns' going around 'ail' is 'NAILS'.
(Other definitions for nails that I've seen before include "Talons" , "Metal spikes" , "Fastens with spikes" , "Tacks - arrests" , "Slain with metal pins" .)