Guys backing censor with short notes (8)
I believe the answer is:
staccato
'short notes' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'guys backing censor' is the wordplay.
'guys' becomes 'cats' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'backing' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'censor' becomes 'Cato' (ancient Roman censor).
'cats' backwards is 'stac'.
'stac'+'cato'='STACCATO'
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for staccato that I've seen before include "instruction to musicians" , "With every note detached in cats's coat" , "With notes sharply separated (music)" , "With each note detached or disconnected (music)" , "With sharply detached notes (music)" .)