Explain tricks, having got honest (8)
I believe the answer is:
construe
'explain' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'tricks having got honest' is the wordplay.
'tricks' becomes 'cons' (trick can mean to scam or con).
'having got' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'honest' becomes 'true' (associated in meaning).
'cons'+'true'='CONSTRUE'
(Other definitions for construe that I've seen before include "Make sense of -- trounces (anag)" , "Analyse language" , "Interpret in a particular way" , "Understand" , "Translate" .)