Earl embarrassed without right is offended (5)
I believe the answer is:
erred
'offended' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'earl embarrassed without right' is the wordplay.
'earl' becomes 'e'.
'embarrassed' becomes 'red' (someone may blush or go red when embarrassed).
'without' is an insertion indicator ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'red' going around 'r' is 'rred'.
'e'+'rred'='ERRED'
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for erred that I've seen before include "Went wrong" , "Sinned" , "slipped up" , "Committed a sin" , "Was mistaken" .)