State after declaration: a start in the middle, grabbing wicket (2,3)
I believe the answer is:
at war
'state after declaration' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'a start in the middle grabbing wicket' is the wordplay.
'in the middle' means to look at the middle letters.
'grabbing' is an insertion indicator.
'wicket' becomes 'w'.
The central letters of 'start' are 'tar'.
'tar' enclosing 'w' is 'twar'.
'a'+'twar'='AT WAR'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for at war that I've seen is " In conflict".)