Pal beginning to play the fool? (5)
I believe the answer is:
chump
'the fool?' is the definition.
('chump' can be a synonym of 'fool')
'pal beginning to play' is the wordplay.
'pal' becomes 'chum' (both can mean a friend).
'beginning to' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'play' is 'p'.
'chum'+'p'='CHUMP'
(Other definitions for chump that I've seen before
include
"Blockhead"
,
"Nitwit"
,
"Foolish person"
,
"Thick