Spooner's payments reduce tension (6)
I believe the answer is:
defuse
'reduce tension' is the definition.
(as in defusing a tense situation)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for defuse that I've seen before include "Take the heat out of, make safe" , "Make less dangerous" , "Disarm bomb etc" , "ease tension" , "Reduce dangerous tension or make explosive safe" .)