Cloth cutter, reportedly, for a beginner? (7,6)
I believe the answer is:
curtain raiser
'a beginner?' is the definition.
(item that begins a theatrical entertainment)
'cloth cutter reportedly' is the wordplay.
'cloth' becomes 'curtain'.
'cutter' becomes 'razor' (razor is a kind of cutter).
'reportedly' shows a homophone (sound like).
'razor' is a homophone of 'raiser'.
'curtain'+'raiser'='CURTAIN-RAISER'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for curtain raiser that I've seen before include "Short play before the main performance" , "warm-up" , "Preliminary show" , "preliminary to action" , "piece before the main action" .)