A state Dorothy takes years to get into (6)
I believe the answer is:
dotage
'into' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'a state dorothy takes years' is the wordplay.
'a state dorothy' becomes 'dot' (nickname for someone called Dorothy. I am not sure about the 'state' bit.**).
'takes' says to put letters next to each other.
'years' becomes 'age' ('age' can be a synonym of 'years').
'dot'+'age'='DOTAGE'
'to get' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dotage that I've seen before include "Feeble later life" , "Old age, senility" , "State of weakness of mind caused by old age" , "Second childhood" , "Foolish later life" .)