Rejection of novel by unknown ultimately unfair, journalist complained (8)
I believe the answer is:
yammered
'complained' is the definition.
(yammering is a kind of complaining)
'rejection of novel by unknown ultimately unfair journalist' is the wordplay.
'rejection of' says the letters should be written backwards.
'novel' becomes 'Emma' (novel by Jane Austen).
'by unknown' becomes 'y' (algebra. I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'ultimately' suggests the final letters.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
The last letter of 'unfair' is 'r'.
'emma'+'y'='emmay'
'emmay' backwards is 'yamme'.
'yamme'+'r'+'ed'='YAMMERED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for yammered that I've seen before include "Complained" , "having made an outcry" , "Made a loud and incessant noise" .)