Cut short a numbered musical work (3)
I believe the answer is:
lop
'cut short' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'a numbered musical work' is the wordplay.
'a numbered' becomes 'l' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'musical work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'l'+'op'='LOP'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lop that I've seen before include "Prune, cut the top off" , "Chop (off)" , "Hack" , "Remove branches from a tree" , "Cut away branches or twigs" .)