Said as briefly as possible, help with the dictionary compilation (3,2,1,4)
I believe the answer is:
put in a word
'said' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.
'briefly as possible help with the dictionary compilation' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'briefly' could be 'inaword' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'inaword' is located in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for put in a word that I've seen before include "what crossword solvers do?" , "Recommend" .)