United in mess: maybe bust? (6)
I believe the answer is:
statue
'bust?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'united in mess' is the wordplay.
'united' becomes 'U' (abbreviation).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'mess' becomes 'state' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'u' going within 'state' is 'STATUE'.
'maybe' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for statue that I've seen before include "Noble's rank or dignity" , "Modelled figure of a human or animal" , "Carved likeness" , "Eg, the Venus de Milo" , "Figurative sculpture" .)