They give some people a clip around the ears for cutting staff (12)

'they' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are plural nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'some people a clip around the ears for cutting staff' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'some' could be 'a' and 'a' is present in the answer.
'people' could be 'stylists' (stylist is a kind of person) and 'stylists' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'give' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?