Unable to hold it together around sweets of course (8)
I believe the answer is:
stressed
'unable' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'hold it together around sweets of course' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is found in the answer.
'course' could be 'se' and 'se' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stressed that I've seen before include "Physically or mentally overexerted" , "Emphasized or strained" , "on edge" , "exerted pressure" , "Placed emphasis on" .)