Crossword Genius

Principal fan is facing the wrong way, they reveal, panicking (2,1,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

in a flap

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

'facing the wrong way they reveal panicking' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'principal fan' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'fan' is 'naf' which is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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