Spies act foolishly, providing distraction (8)
I believe the answer is:
escapist
'distraction' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'spies act foolishly' is the wordplay.
'foolishly' is an anagram indicator.
'spies'+'act'='spiesact'
'spiesact' is an anagram of 'ESCAPIST'.
'providing' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for escapist that I've seen before include "One fleeing reality" , "One avoiding reality" , "I fantasise" , "One living in a fantasy world" , "My interest is not of this world" .)