I finally got IT nerd hyped and pent up about work (3,5,7)

I believe the answer is:

the penny dropped

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'i finally got it' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'nerd hyped and pent up about work' is the wordplay.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'up' indicates an anagram (letters get chucked up).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'work' becomes 'op' (short for opus).
'hyped' put after 'pent' is 'penthyped'.
'nerd'+'penthyped'='nerdpenthyped'
'nerdpenthyped' is an anagram of 'thepennydrped'.
'thepennydrped' going around 'op' is 'THE PENNY DROPPED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for the penny dropped that I've seen is " what happened around 10 [AHA MOMENT] ?".)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.

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