Assistant gets short written note, specifying range of colours to be used (7)
I believe the answer is:
palette
'assistant' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'short written note specifying range of colours to be used' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'note' could be 'te' (musical note) and 'te' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'palet' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'gets' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for palette that I've seen before include "Artists mix on this" , "Artist's colour-mixing board" , "Artist's paint mixing board" , "painting equipment" , "Artist's range of colours" .)