Communicate what could be intricate, first off (8)
I believe the answer is:
interact
'communicate' is the definition.
(I know that communicate is a more specific form of the action interact)
'could be intricate first off' is the wordplay.
'could be' indicates anagramming the letters.
'first off' means to remove the first letter.
'intricate' with its first letter removed is 'ntricate'.
'ntricate' with letters rearranged gives 'INTERACT'.
'what' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for interact that I've seen before include "Combine" , "Have a mutual effect" , "Train etc. (anag.)" , "Show effect on each other" , "Can't tire (anag)" .)