Smart to keep cents in new purse (6)
I believe the answer is:
spruce
'smart' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'keep cents in new purse' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'cents' could be 'c' (abbreviation for cents) and 'c' is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'purse' is 'sprue' which is within the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spruce that I've seen before include "Tidy - fir" , "Well-groomed - tree" , "Smart and tidy - tree" , "Smart in appearance like fir tree" , "perfect condition" .)