Attempts to explain strange rites (5)

I believe the answer is:

tries

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'attempts' is the definition.
(I know this)

'strange rites' is the wordplay.
'strange' is an anagram indicator.
'rites' is an anagram of 'TRIES'.

'to explain' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tries that I've seen before include "Attempts" , "Scoring moves in rugby" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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