Note Spurs playing without Kane finally look smarter (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
dress up
'look smarter' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'note spurs playing without kane finally' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'd' (musical note).
'playing' indicates anagramming the letters.
'without' means one lot of letters goes inside another ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'finally' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'kane' is 'e'.
'spurs' with letters rearranged gives 'rssup'.
'rssup' placed around 'e' is 'ressup'.
'd'+'ressup'='DRESS UP'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dress up that I've seen before include "Adopt costume" , "What spin doctors do" , "Put on the glad rags" , "Put on special clothes" , "Adorn" .)