Gael's upset, uneasy now and then in championships (7)
I believe the answer is:
leagues
'championships' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'gael's upset uneasy now and then' is the wordplay.
'upset' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'now and then' indicates alternate letters (letters taken on a regular basis, now and then).
The alternating letters of 'uneasy' are 'ues'.
'gael' written backwards gives 'leag'.
'leag'+'ues'='LEAGUES'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for leagues that I've seen before include "Alliance" , "Groups" , "measures" , "Alliances" , "Unions" .)