Crossword Genius

State benefits: who can say what the future holds? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

prophets

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'state benefits who can say' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.

'the future holds?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'het' which is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'props' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'what' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for prophets that I've seen before include "Nahum, Joel etc." , "Oracles, seers" , "They forecast" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app