The force sometimes reduced (3)
I believe the answer is:
met
'the force' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)
'sometimes reduced' is the wordplay.
'reduced' indicates a hidden word (reducing the letters in the clue shows the answer).
'MET' is hidden within 'sometimes'.
(Other definitions for met that I've seen before include "Bumped into" , "satisfied" , "Encountered, came into contact" , "Encountered, came across" , "Opera company" .)