Parties' agents in bad loss (7)

I believe the answer is:

socials

'parties'' is the definition.
(I know this)

'agents in bad loss' is the wordplay.
'agents' becomes 'CIA' (Central Intelligence Agency).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'bad' indicates anagramming the letters.
'loss' with letters rearranged gives 'sols'.
'cia' going within 'sols' is 'SOCIALS'.

(Another definition for socials that I've seen is " Parties".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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