Artifice of befuddled magistrate lacking imagination for a start (9)
I believe the answer is:
stratagem
'artifice' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'befuddled magistrate lacking imagination for a start' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
an anagram of 'start' is 'strta' which is within the remaining letters.
The remaining letters 'gem' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stratagem that I've seen before include "A cunning plan or scheme" , "Plan to deceive enemy" , "Manoeuvre - Ma's target (anag)" , "way to outwit opponent" , "Tag master with cunning plan" .)