Former assistant finished cutting out first letter and enlarged it (8)
I believe the answer is:
expanded
'former' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'assistant finished cutting out first letter and enlarged it' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'assistant' could be 'pa' (personal assistant) and 'pa' is located in the answer.
'letter' could be 'ex' (X) and 'ex' is found in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found in the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for expanded that I've seen before include "Spread out, enlarged" , "Grew in extent" , "Enlarged, extended" , "Grew larger" , "Amplified, spread out" .)