Tied first of ligatures in cut (7)

I believe the answer is:

spliced

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'tied' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'first of ligatures in cut' is the wordplay.
'first of ligatures' becomes 'p' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'cut' becomes 'sliced' (similar in meaning).
'p' placed within 'sliced' is 'SPLICED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spliced that I've seen before include "Tied the knot" , "Like a cricket bat" , "Interwoven; married" , "in a match" , "Wed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.