Studio workers in dire straits? (7)
I believe the answer is:
artists
'studio workers' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'dire straits?' is the wordplay.
'dire' is an anagram indicator.
'straits' is an anagram of 'ARTISTS'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for artists that I've seen before include "They imagine" , "Creative people" , "music performers?" , "Monet and Manet, for example" , "creative types may find themselves" .)