Ought US city to be gripped by an obsession? (8)
I believe the answer is:
anything
'ought us' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'city to be gripped by an obsession?' is the wordplay.
'city' becomes 'NY' (short for New York).
'to be gripped by' is an insertion indicator.
'an' becomes 'a'.
'obsession?' becomes 'thing' (as in 'having a thing' for someone or something).
'a'+'thing'='athing'
'ny' put within 'athing' is 'ANYTHING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anything that I've seen before include "Unspecified object" , ""Whatever!"" , "An unspecified item" , "- - Goes (mus.)" , "Musical by 14" .)