Cunning Burl once making records (8)
I believe the answer is:
archives
'records' is the definition.
(an archive is a collection of records)
'cunning burl once' is the wordplay.
'cunning' becomes 'arch' (arch can mean cunning or tricksy).
'burl once' becomes 'ives' (I've seen this in another clue. I am not sure about the 'once' bit.).
'arch'+'ives'='ARCHIVES'
'making' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for archives that I've seen before include "data" , "Collections of records of organisations or institutions" , "Collections of old documents" , "Rich vase (anag.)" , "Stored records of organisations" .)