Chinese ready to hold whip in Mexican state (7)
I believe the answer is:
yucatan
'mexican state' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'chinese ready to hold whip' is the wordplay.
'chinese ready' becomes 'yuan' (I have seen 'Oriental ready' mean 'yuan' so perhaps 'ready' could also mean 'yuan'. I am not sure about the 'chinese' bit.).
'to hold' indicates putting letters inside.
'whip' becomes 'cat' (cat o' nine tails, cat for short is a type of whip).
'yuan' enclosing 'cat' is 'YUCATAN'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for yucatan that I've seen before include "Mayan area of Mexico" , "part of Mexico" , "Mexican state" , "N. Mexican peninsula" , "Region of Mexico" .)