Figures a close finish to be exciting (5)
I believe the answer is:
tense
'exciting' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'figures a close finish to be' is the wordplay.
'finish' says to take the final letters.
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'be' becomes 'ten' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
The final letters of 'figures close' are 'se'.
'se' after 'ten' is 'TENSE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tense that I've seen before include "Rigid; verb form" , "Stressful" , "past possibly" , "Maybe past" , "Form of verb showing time" .)