State surely worried by a society cut in two (10)
I believe the answer is:
asseverate
'state surely' is the definition.
'asseverate' can be an answer for 'state' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'surely' bit.
'worried by a society cut in two' is the wordplay.
'worried' becomes 'ate' (something worrying may eat someone up).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'a society' becomes 'as' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'cut in two' becomes 'sever' (I've seen this in another clue).
'as'+'sever'='assever'
'ate' put after 'assever' is 'ASSEVERATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for asseverate that I've seen before include "Swear" , "Solemnly declare" , "State categorically" , "Solemnly say" , "Claim" .)