Wear ties to a certain extent (2,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
as it were
'to a certain extent' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'wear ties' is the wordplay.
'wear ties' anagrams to 'AS IT WERE'.
However, I am not sure how this is indicated.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for as it were that I've seen before include "Seemingly" , "you might say" , "As if it was actually so" , "Just like if really so" , "In sort of" .)