Part of splendid act I contrived teaching (8)
I believe the answer is:
didactic
'teaching' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'part of splendid act i contrived' is the wordplay.
'part of' indicates a hidden word.
'DIDACTIC' can be found hidden inside 'splendid act i contrived'.
(Other definitions for didactic that I've seen before include "Edifying" , "(Tale) with a message" , "Imparting a lesson" , "In the manner of a (domineering) teacher" , "giving lesson" .)