Parent tries playing aces (7)
I believe the answer is:
maestri
'aces' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'parent tries playing' is the wordplay.
'parent' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mum or mother).
'playing' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tries' anagrammed gives 'estri'.
'ma'+'estri'='MAESTRI'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maestri that I've seen before include "Top musicians" , "Famous conductors" , "Top conductors" , "Distinguished conductors" , "Experts" .)