Discovered suddenly day after purser is battered (9)
I believe the answer is:
surprised
'discovered suddenly' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to thinking as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'day after purser is battered' is the wordplay.
'day' becomes 'd' (abbreviation for day).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'battered' indicates anagramming the letters.
'purser'+'is'='purseris'
'purseris' is an anagram of 'surprise'.
'd' after 'surprise' is 'SURPRISED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for surprised that I've seen before include "left open-mouthed" , "Shocked" , "Startled" , "Lost for words" , "Astounded" .)