Essays by one in a state of rest (5)

I believe the answer is:

tries

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'essays' is the definition.
('try' can be a synonym of 'essay')

'one in a state of rest' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a state of rest' becomes 'tres' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'i' placed inside 'tres' is 'TRIES'.

'by' is the link.

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(Other definitions for tries that I've seen before include "Attempts" , "Scoring moves in rugby" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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