Gloomy signal from one who knows the score? (8)
I believe the answer is:
downbeat
'gloomy' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'signal from one who knows the score?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is found within the answer.
'one' could be 'a' (a thing is one thing) and 'a' is found within the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for downbeat that I've seen before include "Depressed - relaxed" , "Conductor is likely to make this movement" , "Dismal and depressing" , "Miserable; relaxed" , "Pessimistic, gloomy" .)