Skilled player caught in thoughtful mood (8)
I believe the answer is:
profound
'caught in thoughtful mood' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, adjectives and past participle verbs occasionally mean the same thing.
'skilled player' is the wordplay.
'skilled' becomes 'pro' (I've seen this before).
'player' becomes 'found' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'pro'+'found'='PROFOUND'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for profound that I've seen before include "Showing great insight" , "Far-reaching" , "deeply intellectual" , "Needing deep thought" , "Extensive" .)