Compliant matron at heart fit for playing? (9)

I believe the answer is:

tractable

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'compliant' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)

'matron at heart fit for playing?' is the wordplay.
'at heart' means to look at the middle letters.
'fit for playing?' becomes 'actable' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The middle letters of 'matron' are 'tr'.
'tr'+'actable'='TRACTABLE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tractable that I've seen before include "Easily controlled" , "Docile" , "Easy to manage or deal with" , "easily handled" , "Easy to control or influence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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