Bears frolic in the distance and down in the dumps (9)
I believe the answer is:
miserable
'down in the dumps' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'bears frolic in the distance' is the wordplay.
'frolic' is an anagram indicator.
'in the' is an insertion indicator.
'distance' becomes 'mile' (mile is a unit of distance).
'bears' with letters rearranged gives 'serab'.
'serab' put into 'mile' is 'MISERABLE'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for miserable that I've seen before include "Wretched, doleful" , "Blue" , "Wretched, pitiful" , "Glum, wretched" , "Being sad" .)