Gave the players a hand (5)
I believe the answer is:
dealt
'gave' is the definition.
(dealing is a kind of giving)
'the players a hand' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
'hand' could be 'l' (abbreviation for left, as in the left-hand side) and 'l' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'de' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dealt that I've seen before include "Gave out playing cards" , "Distributed playing cards" , "Traded" , "Delta (anag.)" , "Carried out business" .)