Hint from small Scouse singer inspiring in tango (9)
I believe the answer is:
scintilla
'hint' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'small scouse singer inspiring in tango' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'scouse singer' becomes 'cilla' (Liverpool singer Cilla Black).
'inspiring' indicates putting letters inside.
'tango' becomes 't' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'in'+'t'='int'
'cilla' placed around 'int' is 'cintilla'.
's'+'cintilla'='SCINTILLA'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for scintilla that I've seen before include "Tiny, scarcely detectable amount" , "Minute spark" , "flash" , "Tiny hint, trace" , "littlest bit" .)