Confused and drained following beat it (9)
I believe the answer is:
scrambled
'confused' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'drained following beat it' is the wordplay.
'drained' becomes 'bled' (bleeding is a kind of draining).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'beat it' becomes 'scram' (I've seen this in another clue).
'bled' after 'scram' is 'SCRAMBLED'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scrambled that I've seen before include "Mixed" , "Thrown together in a disorderly fashion" , "Made electronic messages unintelligible" , "Haphazardly thrown together" , "Made a broadcast signal unintelligible" .)