Having fun at celebration, saying goodbye hugging unknown character (8)
I believe the answer is:
partying
'having' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with social activities as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'fun at celebration saying goodbye hugging unknown character' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'at' could be 'in' (synonymous in some cases - eg at school, in school) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'celebration' could be 'party' (I've seen this before) and 'party' is found within the answer.
'character' could be 'g' and 'g' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for partying that I've seen is " Enjoying oneself at a do".)