Second Brownie, awake, having left before end of play awkwardly (4-11)

I believe the answer is:

self-consciously

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'awkwardly' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'second brownie awake having left before end of play' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'brownie' becomes 'elf' (synonyms).
'awake' becomes 'conscious' (similar in meaning).
'having' says to put letters next to each other.
'left before end of play' becomes 'ly' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
's'+'elf'+'conscious'+'ly'='SELF-CONSCIOUSLY'

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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