State ... "Brown is a devil!" (5)

I believe the answer is:

satan

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'a devil' is the definition.
('Satan' can be a synonym of 'devil')

'state brown' is the wordplay.
'state' becomes 'sa' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'brown' becomes 'tan' (tan is a kind of brown).
'sa'+'tan'='SATAN'

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for satan that I've seen before include "Prince of Darkness" , "Apollyon" , "Diabolical figure" , "The devil, Beelzebub" , "arch-fiend" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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