Tempter present unfortunately (7)

I believe the answer is:

serpent

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'tempter' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'present unfortunately' is the wordplay.
'unfortunately' is an anagram indicator (a bad or unfortunate spelling).
'present' is an anagram of 'SERPENT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for serpent that I've seen before include "Scaly reptile" , "Venomous snake" , "exhibit at zoo" , "Limbless reptile" , "Instrument of the past" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.

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