Was sporting about loss eventually, having come off this? (5)
I believe the answer is:
worse
'come off this?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'was sporting about loss eventually' is the wordplay.
'was sporting' becomes 'wore' (I've seen this in another clue).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'eventually' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'loss' is 's'.
'wore' going around 's' is 'WORSE'.
'having' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for worse that I've seen before include "More serious" , "Opposite of better" , "Of poorer quality" , "Bad to a greater degree" , "More awful or unwell" .)