Understood about upset party getting close to making sort of farewell? (9)
I believe the answer is:
goodnight
'sort of farewell?' is the definition.
'understood about upset party getting close to' is the wordplay.
'understood' becomes 'got' (getting is a kind of understanding).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'upset party getting' becomes 'od' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'close to' becomes 'nigh'.
'od'+'nigh'='odnigh'
'got' enclosing 'odnigh' is 'GOODNIGHT'.
'making' is the link.
(Other definitions for goodnight that I've seen before include "retirement wish" , "Statement on retirement" , "Final greeting" , "dark valediction, perhaps" .)