Worried when a stain is made by the spilt tea (2,1,5)
I believe the answer is:
in a state
'worried' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'a stain is made by the spilt tea' is the wordplay.
'is made' is an anagram indicator.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the spilt' is an anagram indicator.
'stain' with letters rearranged gives 'inast'.
'tea' anagrammed gives 'ate'.
'inast'+'ate'='IN A STATE'
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for in a state that I've seen is " Upset".)