Devise trick before cold short month? (7)
I believe the answer is:
concoct
'devise' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'trick before cold short month?' is the wordplay.
'trick' becomes 'con' (I've seen this before).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'short' suggests taking the first letters.
'month?' becomes 'oct' (Oct is an example**).
The initial letter of 'cold' is 'c'.
'con'+'c'+'oct'='CONCOCT'
(Other definitions for concoct that I've seen before include "cook" , "Invent (a story/plan)" , "Invent, devise" , "Invent (a story)" , "Fabricate" .)