Latest thing in ties (5)
I believe the answer is:
final
'latest' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'thing in ties' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'fal' 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 final that I've seen before include "Last match in a competition" , "Like one's journey to cemetery" , "Last in a series of games or contests" , "Last, ultimate" , "Conclusive" .)