Figure out how to smear paint on both sides (7)
I believe the answer is:
decrypt
'figure out' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'to smear paint on both sides' is the wordplay.
'to smear' becomes 'decry' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on both sides' suggests removing the centre (the left and right sides of the word are used).
'paint' with its centre taken out is 'pt'.
'decry'+'pt'='DECRYPT'
'how' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for decrypt that I've seen before include "Decode" , "Break code" , "Crack" , "Make message understood" , "Translate from code" .)