Quiver as head clasped tangled plait (9)
I believe the answer is:
palpitate
'quiver' is the definition.
(I know that quiver can be written as palpitate)
'head clasped tangled plait' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'plait' is 'alpit' which is located in the answer.
'head' could be 'pate' (humorous term for the head) and 'pate' is found in the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for palpitate that I've seen before include "quake" , "quiver" , "Throb rapidly" , "Rapidly beat" , "Beat abnormally quickly" .)