Clearly manages to get nil during the game (7)
I believe the answer is:
plainly
'clearly' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'manages to get nil during the game' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'nil' is 'inl' which is within the answer.
'game' could be 'p' (I have seen 'French game ' mean 'p' so perhaps 'game' could also mean 'p') and 'p' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lay' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plainly that I've seen before include "Simply" , "... without embellishment" , "In unconcealed fashion" , "Clearly" , "obviously" .)