Three times they initially faced new peril (6)
I believe the answer is:
triple
'three times' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'they initially faced new peril' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'peril' is 'riple' which is within the answer.
A single letter 't' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for triple that I've seen before include "Increase threefold" , "Threefold, treble" , "Multiply by three" , "Consisting of three" , "involving several parties" .)