Crossword Genius

Learner in sad state getting tight (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

miserly

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'tight' is the definition.
(I know that tight can be written as miserly)

'learner in sad state' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'learner' could be 'l' (as in a learner driver with L-plates on their car) and 'l' is found within the answer.
'state' could be 'misery' (misery is a kind of state) and 'misery' is located in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'getting' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for miserly that I've seen before include "Stingy" , "Like Scrooge" , "Mean, tight" , "Parsimonious" , "Near" .)

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