Trick using melting process causes puzzlement (9)
I believe the answer is:
confusion
'puzzlement' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'trick using melting process' is the wordplay.
'trick' becomes 'con' (a con is a fraud or trick).
'using' says to put letters next to each other.
'melting process' becomes 'fusion' (fusion is a kind of process. I am not sure about the 'melting' bit.).
'con'+'fusion'='CONFUSION'
'causes' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for confusion that I've seen before include "Uncertainty" , "Shame!" , "Chaos" , "Bewilderment - disorder" , "Perplexity" .)