Reported I had got in, in need of a lift (3)
I believe the answer is:
sad
'in need of a lift' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'reported i had got' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'i' could be 'a' and 'a' is found in the answer.
'had' could be 'd' (in contractions e.g. 'I'd', 'you'd' etc) and 'd' is found in the answer.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sad that I've seen before include "Mournful and depressed" , "Despondent" , "grey" , "Regrettable" , "Unfortunate" .)