Smart mole manipulated disordered state of affairs (9)
I believe the answer is:
maelstrom
'disordered state of affairs' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'smart mole manipulated' is the wordplay.
'manipulated' indicates anagramming the letters.
'smart'+'mole'='smartmole'
'smartmole' is an anagram of 'MAELSTROM'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maelstrom that I've seen before include "Powerful circular current of water" , "fearsome current" , "danger to shipping" , "Norwegian whirlpool" , "Eddy" .)