Left outlet for clever story (5)
I believe the answer is:
fable
'story' is the definition.
(I know that fable is a type of story)
'left outlet for clever' is the wordplay.
'left outlet for' becomes 'f' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'clever' becomes 'able' (able can mean skilled or talented).
'f'+'able'='FABLE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fable that I've seen before include "Myth, legend" , "Story, often with moral" , "there may be a moral to it" , "Allegory" , "One of Aesop's tales" .)