Waded and got quietly confused (7)
I believe the answer is:
paddled
'waded and' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'quietly confused' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'confused' becomes 'addled' (addling is a kind of confusing).
'p'+'addled'='PADDLED'
'got' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for paddled that I've seen before include "moved boat manually" , "Walked in shallow water" .)