Mischievous fellow has lead developer restrained by a couple of middlemen, to thwart them (6)
I believe the answer is:
impede
'mischievous fellow has lead' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with social activities as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for impede that I've seen before include "Block progress of (something)" , "Obstruct, hold up progress" , "Hinder or obstruct, say progress" , "Delay, be an obstacle" , "Handicap" .)