Where, being in a state, to get cross when meals are interrupted (5)
I believe the answer is:
texas
'where being in a state to' is the definition.
The answer is a location as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'cross when meals are interrupted' is the wordplay.
'cross' becomes 'T' (shape).
'when' becomes 'as' (eg 'when I walked' means 'as I walked').
'meals are' becomes 'ex' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'interrupted' is an insertion indicator.
't'+'as'='tas'
'tas' enclosing 'ex' is 'TEXAS'.
'get' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for texas that I've seen before include "Large US state" , "28th US state" , "Southern US state" , "America's Lone Star State" , "Second-largest US state by area" .)