Article left a couple of graduates in a state (7)
I believe the answer is:
alabama
'article' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'left a couple of graduates in a state' is the wordplay.
'a couple of graduates' means two substitutions for 'graduate'.
'left' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'graduate' becomes 'MA' (abbreviation for Master of Arts).
'graduate' becomes 'BA' (someone with a Bachelor of Arts degree).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'state' becomes 'la' (abbreviation for Louisiana).
'ma'+'ba'='maba'
'a'+'la'='ala'
'maba' inserted into 'ala' is 'amabala'.
'amabala' in reverse letter order is 'ALABAMA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alabama that I've seen before include "US state, capital Montgomery" , "Somewhere in US" , "Confederate state during the American Civil War" , "Southern US state" , "State of southeastern US" .)