Hints at coming in early enough, before start of session (9)
I believe the answer is:
intimates
'hints' is the definition.
(intimating is a kind of hinting)
'at coming in early enough before start of session' is the wordplay.
'coming in' is an insertion indicator.
'early enough' becomes 'in time' (done in the required time).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'start of' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'session' is 's'.
'at' inserted within 'intime' is 'intimate'.
'intimate'+'s'='INTIMATES'
(Another definition for intimates that I've seen is " Hints - close friends".)