Blurt out when tying up a savage (6)
I believe the answer is:
brutal
'savage' is the definition.
(I know that savage can be written as brutal)
'blurt out when tying up a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
an anagram of 'blurt' is 'brutl' which is present in the left over letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for brutal that I've seen before include "Very cruel and beastly" , "Vicious" , "Savagely violent" , "Cruel and unfeeling like an animal" , "Disposed to inflict pain" .)