Heard girl eat, not causing offence (7)
I believe the answer is:
anodyne
'heard' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'girl eat not causing offence' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'not' could be 'no' (negative) and 'no' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anodyne that I've seen before include "Anything that relieves pain or distress" , "not causing disagreement" , "Dully uncontroversial" , "Painkilling (medicine)" , "Unlikely to cause offence - rather dull" .)