Variable working horror — cue to act over numbers initially on it? (4-4,8)
I think it could be either:
zero-hour contract
'variable working' is the definition.
'horror cue to act over numbers initially on it?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'act' could be 'contract' (contract is a kind of act) and 'contract' is found in the answer.
'over' could be 'o' (cricket abbreviation) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'it?' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
'variable working horror cue to act' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'over numbers initially on it?' is the wordplay.
'over' becomes 'o' (cricket abbreviation).
'numbers initially' becomes 'zer' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'on it?' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'o' after 'zer' is 'ZERO'.
(Other definitions for zero that I've seen before include "hour for action" , "Zilch" , "Nadir" , "Score of nought - nil" , "Worthless person" .)