Went ahead with a bribe and messed things up (7)
I believe the answer is:
bungled
'messed things up' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'went ahead with a bribe' is the wordplay.
'went ahead' becomes 'led' (led the way).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'a bribe' becomes 'bung' (I've seen this before).
'led' after 'bung' is 'BUNGLED'.
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bungled that I've seen before include "Spoiled through incompetence" , "mismanaged" , "Slipped up there" .)