State could get around rules, initially (8)
I believe the answer is:
maryland
'state' is the definition.
(Maryland is an example)
'could get around rules initially' is the wordplay.
'could' becomes 'may' (I've seen this before).
'get' becomes 'land' (landing is a kind of getting).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'rules initially' becomes 'r' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'may'+'land'='mayland'
'mayland' placed around 'r' is 'MARYLAND'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maryland that I've seen before include "State abbreviated as MD" , "Baltimoreans are here" , "American state named after old English queen" , "Baltimore state" , "US state, named for an English queen" .)