Describe the state of affairs in form? (9)
I believe the answer is:
enlighten
'state of affairs in form?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'describe the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'hte' which is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for enlighten that I've seen before include "remove prejudice" , "Give knowledge and understanding to" , "Impart knowledge to" , "Edify" , "Make aware" .)