Friend misled once about female editor on speed (11)
I believe the answer is:
confederate
'friend' is the definition.
(I know that Confederate is a type of friend)
'misled once about female editor on speed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'about' could be 'on' (as in a book 'on' a certain topic) and 'on' is located in the answer.
'female' could be 'f' (abbreviation) and 'f' is found within the answer.
'editor' could be 'ed' (abbreviation) and 'ed' is present in the answer.
'on' could be 'at' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'at' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'cere' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for confederate that I've seen before include "In alliance" , "Southern supporter in US Civil War" , "Ally" , "US Civil War fighter" , "ordered into this American army" .)