Awkward when leader of gang short of competition? (9)
I believe the answer is:
graceless
'awkward' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'leader of gang short of competition?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'competition?' could be 'race' (race is a kind of competition) and 'race' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'gless' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for graceless that I've seen before include "Lacking elegance" , "Awkward" , "Indecorous" , "clumsy" .)