A new poetic work about US city in turn proves insipid (7)
I believe the answer is:
anodyne
'insipid' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'a new poetic work about us city in turn' is the wordplay.
'a new poetic work' becomes 'anode' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'us city' becomes 'NY' (short for New York).
'in turn' says the letters should be written in reverse (letters turning around).
'ny' backwards is 'yn'.
'anode' placed around 'yn' is 'ANODYNE'.
'proves' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anodyne that I've seen before include "lacking inspiration" , "Avoiding controversy - done any (anag)" , "Innocent" , "Pain relieving" , "Bland and inoffensive" .)