Excellent group of nations including Germany? Another nation’s sign of departure (5)
I believe the answer is:
adieu
'departure' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'excellent group of nations including germany?' is the wordplay.
'excellent' becomes 'ai' (resembles 'A1', old-fashioned term for excellent).
'group of nations' becomes 'EU' (European Union).
'including' indicates putting letters inside.
'germany?' becomes 'D' (vehicle registration code for Deutschland).
'ai'+'eu'='aieu'
'aieu' going around 'd' is 'ADIEU'.
'another nation's sign of' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for adieu that I've seen before include "Goodbye, mon ami!" , "Farewell, Monsieur!" , "Farewell (French)" , "Farewell, ami!" , "Ciao, in French" .)