Tried very hard to wander, by the way (6)
I believe the answer is:
strove
'tried very hard' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wander by the way' is the wordplay.
'wander' becomes 'rove' ('rove' can be a synonym of 'wander').
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the way' becomes 'st'.
'rove' put after 'st' is 'STROVE'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for strove that I've seen before include "Endeavoured" , "Voters (anag) - made every effort" , "Made great efforts" , "Tried hard for voters" , "Struggled" .)