upcast and carrying an instrument, said hello (7)
I believe the answer is:
saluted
'upcast and' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'carrying an instrument said hello' is the wordplay.
'carrying' indicates putting letters inside.
'an instrument' becomes 'lute' (lute is a kind of instrument).
'said hello' becomes 'sad' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'lute' put inside 'sad' is 'SALUTED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for saluted that I've seen before include "Presented arms" , "Greeted or honoured" , "Recognised with a gesture" , "Due last (anag.)" , "Kissed" .)