Ben almost yearned to be stranded (7)
I believe the answer is:
beached
'be stranded' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'ben almost yearned' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'yearned' becomes 'ached' ('ache' can be a synonym of 'yearn').
'ben' with its last letter taken away is 'be'.
'be'+'ached'='BEACHED'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for beached that I've seen before include "unable to move?" , "landed ashore" , "like a fish out of water" , "High and dry" .)