Tike hints about being playful (9)
I believe the answer is:
kittenish
'playful' is the definition.
('kittenish' can be similar in meaning to 'playful')
'tike hints about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'tike'+'hints'='tikehints'
'tikehints' with letters rearranged gives 'KITTENISH'.
'being' is the link.
(Other definitions for kittenish that I've seen before include "as queen in her youth, perhaps" , "'lively'?" , "in an affected way" , "Playful like young feline" , "like a queen's offspring?" .)