What does the cryptic crossword clue "Picasso had one hot, tense, fleeting encounter with secretary at the outset (10)" mean?

The wordplay uses a charade (building blocks). PA (synonym="secretary") + IN (synonym="hot") + T (synonym="tense") + BRUSH (synonym="fleeting encounter") = PAINTBRUSH The answer is PAINTBRUSH.

Picasso had one hot, tense, fleeting encounter with secretary at the outset (10)

Guardian Cryptic #29676 | 11 Across | 2025-04-23 flower

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