She began to imply, in short, that first exam was child's play (6)
I believe the answer is:
simple
'child's play' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'she began to imply in short that first exam' is the wordplay.
'began to' says to take the initial letters (I've seen 'beginning to' mean this).
'in short' means to remove the last letter.
'that first exam' becomes 'e' (1st letter of 'exam').
The initial letter of 'she' is 's'.
'imply' with its final letter taken away is 'impl'.
's'+'impl'+'e'='SIMPLE'
'was' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for simple that I've seen before include "Uncomplicated; herb" , "Effortless" , "Straightforward, not elaborate" , "Naive" , "Easily done" .)