Crossword Genius

Untidy serving-men eat here (2,1,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

in a mess

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'here' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'untidy serving-men eat' is the wordplay.
'untidy serving men' becomes 'ina' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'eat' becomes 'mess' (messing is a kind of eating).
'ina'+'mess'='IN A MESS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for in a mess that I've seen before include "at sixes and sevens" , "Tucker here for Tommy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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