Order papa to cut lovable figure (7)
I believe the answer is:
compute
'figure' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'order papa to cut lovable' is the wordplay.
'order' becomes 'om' (Order of Merit).
'papa' becomes 'P' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'to cut' indicates putting letters inside (some letters cut their way into a word).
'lovable' becomes 'cute' (I've seen this before).
'om'+'p'='omp'
'omp' put into 'cute' is 'COMPUTE'.
(Other definitions for compute that I've seen before include "Work out" , "Calculate, maybe electronically" , "Reckon, calculate" .)