Given to, had clutched the wrong end (6)
I believe the answer is:
handed
'given' is the definition.
('hand' can be a synonym of 'give')
'had clutched the wrong end' is the wordplay.
'clutched' indicates putting letters inside.
'the wrong' indicates an anagram.
'end' anagrammed gives 'nde'.
'had' going around 'nde' is 'HANDED'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for handed that I've seen before include "Incontrovertible" , "given" .)