Crossword Genius

Cleared, accepting student is irritated (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nettled

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'is irritated' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'cleared accepting student' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'student' could be 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers) and 'l' is present in the answer.
'cleared' could be 'netted' ('net' can be a synonym of 'clear') and 'netted' is found within the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nettled that I've seen before include "becomes annoyed" , "annoyed one" , "Provoked" , "Annoyed as by stinging plant" , "Stung!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.