Gloomy viewer showing sign of conflict (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
black eye
'sign of conflict' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both states of affairs as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'gloomy viewer' is the wordplay.
'gloomy' becomes 'black' (I've seen this before).
'viewer' becomes 'eye' (organ which sees or views).
'black'+'eye'='BLACK EYE'
'showing' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for black eye that I've seen before include "Result of blow to optic" , "Colourful optic following blow" , "Result of facial blow" , "Outcome of strike" , "Bruise on face" .)