Tangle Victor in a real mess (5)
I believe the answer is:
ravel
'tangle' is the definition.
('ravel' can be a synonym of 'tangle')
'victor in a real mess' is the wordplay.
'victor' becomes 'v' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'mess' is an anagram indicator.
'real' is an anagram of 'rael'.
'v' placed inside 'rael' is 'RAVEL'.
(Other definitions for ravel that I've seen before include "Entangle - French composer, d. 1937" , "French composer, Maurice (1875-1937)" , "Fray; composer" , "Bolero's composer" , "He scored" .)