Graduate with love for scarf (3)
I believe the answer is:
boa
'scarf' is the definition.
(boa is a kind of scarf)
'graduate with love' is the wordplay.
'graduate' becomes 'ba' (**).
'with' indicates putting letters inside.
'love' becomes 'o' (In tennis, 'love' means 'zero').
'ba' enclosing 'o' is 'BOA'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for boa that I've seen before include "Fluffy scarf of feathers" , "strangler" , "Python" , "native American" , "Large reptile" .)