Crossword Genius

Quiet church reportedly in dilapidated state (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shabby

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

'dilapidated state' is the definition.
'shabby' can be an answer for 'dilapidated' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'state' bit.

'quiet church reportedly in' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'shy' (both can mean timid or reserved).
'church reportedly' becomes 'abb' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'shy' going around 'abb' is 'SHABBY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shabby that I've seen before include "Showing signs of wear and tear" , "Worn and run-down, like clothes" , "Worn and dirty; mean" , "Scruffy; unfair" , "Down-at-heel - mean" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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