Attend to cryptic runes (5)
I believe the answer is:
nurse
'attend to' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'cryptic runes' is the wordplay.
'cryptic' is an anagram indicator (a cryptic or obscure order of the letters).
'runes' is an anagram of 'NURSE'.
(Other definitions for nurse that I've seen before include "Qualified carer" , "Carry on - - (film)" , "Nanny" , "Patient tender" , "Minister to" .)