We set out at the outset to be most charming (8)
I believe the answer is:
sweetest
'most charming' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are superlative adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'we set out at the outset to' is the wordplay.
'we' becomes 'swee' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'out' is an anagram indicator (out can mean wrong or inaccurate).
'at the outset' says to take the initial letters (the outset is the beginning).
The first letter of 'to' is 't'.
'set' is an anagram of 'tes'.
'swee'+'tes'+'t'='SWEETEST'
'be' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sweetest that I've seen before include "Most appealing" , "most agreeable" , "'''Success is counted ...by those who ne'er succeed'' (Emily Dickinson) (8)'" , "Most saccharine or sugary" , "most attractive" .)