An effective arrangement by attractive type (1,4,4)
I believe the answer is:
a good sort
'an effective arrangement by attractive type' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'an effective arrangement by attractive type' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'an' could be 'a' and 'a' is found in the answer.
'effective' could be 'good' (synonyms) and 'good' is found in the answer.
'type' could be 'sort' (both can mean a kind or variety) and 'sort' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?