Only part of the way, by whatever means (7)
I believe the answer is:
somehow
'only part of the way by whatever means' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'only part of the way by whatever' is the wordplay.
'only part' becomes 'so' (so is a kind of part. I am not sure about the 'only' bit.).
'of' becomes 'o''.
'the way' becomes 'w' (Compass direction - West).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'whatever' becomes 'meh' (I've seen this in another clue).
'o'+'w'='ow'
'ow' put after 'meh' is 'mehow'.
'so'+'mehow'='SOMEHOW'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for somehow that I've seen before include "For an unknown reason; so who, me? (anag.)" , "In a way not yet specified" , "In an unspecified way" , "By hook or by crook" , "In an unspecified manner" .)