Put on a show for father instead of turning up for crossword? (6)
I believe the answer is:
dazzle
'put on a show' is the definition.
(dazzle can mean to impress or entertain)
'father instead of turning up for crossword?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'father' could be 'da' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'da' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dazzle that I've seen before include "Blind with light or skill" , "Blind with brightness" , "Blind with light or brilliance" , "Temporalily blind with intense light" , "See 15" .)