Communist encountered middleman inside with some beef (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
red meat
'beef' is the definition.
(beef is a type of red meat)
'communist encountered middleman inside with some' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'communist' could be 'red' (red can informally mean communist) and 'red' is found in the answer.
'some' could be 'a' and 'a' is found within the answer.
'encountered' could be 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'encounter') and 'met' is present in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for red meat that I've seen before include "beef, perhaps" , "beef, say?" , "Beef is one" , "iron-rich item" , "Soak up" .)