Eager to play a number in it and to entertain (6)
I believe the answer is:
regale
'to entertain' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'eager to play a number in it' is the wordplay.
'to play' indicates an anagram.
'a number' becomes 'l' (L is an example**).
'in it' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'eager' with letters rearranged gives 'regae'.
'regae' going around 'l' is 'REGALE'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for regale that I've seen before include "Entertain royally" , "Amuse with stories" , "Entertain with conversation" , "Supply copiously" , "Entertain with stories" .)