She gives Amelia a start, on the quiet (3)
I believe the answer is:
pam
'she' is the definition.
'amelia a start on the quiet' is the wordplay.
'a start' suggests taking the first letters.
'on' indicates putting letters inside.
'the quiet' becomes 'pm' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The first letter of 'amelia' is 'a'.
'a' placed within 'pm' is 'PAM'.
'gives' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pam that I've seen before include "Female" , "- Ayres, English poet" , "Short girl's name" .)