In Le Monde, a determined journo is without proof (9)
I believe the answer is:
unfounded
'proof' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'in le monde a determined journo is without' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'determined' could be 'found' ('find' can be a synonym of 'determine') and 'found' is found in the answer.
'journo' could be 'ed' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'ed' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'un' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for unfounded that I've seen before include "Baseless" , "no truth in it?" , "not established" , "Like Rome before 753 BC" .)