Careful or the CIA might expose us badly. (8)
I believe the answer is:
cautious
'careful' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'the cia might expose us badly' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'us' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cautious that I've seen before include "Chary of" , "Keen to avoid danger" , "safe" , "Wary or prudent" , "Careful to avoid dangers" .)