Where the ancient Greeks got ten in a mess? (5)
I believe the answer is:
ionia
'where the ancient greeks' is the definition.
The answer is a location as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'ten in a mess?' is the wordplay.
'ten' becomes 'io' (IO resembles 10).
'mess?' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'mess' mean this).
'in'+'a'='ina'
'ina' anagrammed gives 'nia'.
'io'+'nia'='IONIA'
'got' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ionia that I've seen before include "Aegean region which gives its name to the adjacent sea" , "ancient region of Eastern Mediterranean" , "Ancient area" , "East coast of the Aegean in Classical times" , "where Greeks settled" .)