Supporter of Nicholas and co in dire straits (7)
I believe the answer is:
tsarist
'supporter of nicholas and co' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'dire straits' is the wordplay.
'dire' is an anagram indicator.
'straits' is an anagram of 'TSARIST'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tsarist that I've seen before include "Russian emperor's supporter" , "Of emperors of old Russia" , "Bolshevik opponent" , "Russian royalist" , "Russian royal supporter" .)