Dabbles is a verb that means to engage IN an activity IN a casual or superficial way. It is often used to describe someone who is not particularly skilled at something, but still enjoys doing it. For example, someone who plays the piano but is not a professional musician could be said to 'dabble IN music.' IN the context of the crossword puzzle, the phrase 'plays at, with 'IN'' suggests that someone is engaging IN an activity IN a casual or superficial way, and the answer is 'dabbles.'