State purpose briefly (3)
I believe the answer is:
goa
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">state</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(Indian state)</span><br/ ><br/ >'<span class="explanation-format__original">purpose briefly</span>' is the wordplay.<br/ >'<span class="explanation-format__original">purpose</span>' becomes '<span class="explanation-format__intermediate">goal</span>'.<br/ >'<span class="explanation-format__original">briefly</span>' means to remove the last letter.<br/ >'<span class="explanation-format__intermediate"><span class="explanation-format__em">goa</span>l</span>' with its last letter taken away is '<span class="explanation-format__answer">GOA</span>'.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for goa that I've seen before include "Indian district" , "Former Portuguese territory in India" , "Indian state, formerly Portuguese" , "Indian island state" , "Region of India" .)