Smart figures organised rite in clipped language (8)
I believe the answer is:
literati
'smart figures' is the definition.
The definition suggests a plural noun which matches the answer.
'organised rite in clipped language' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'rite' is 'iter' which is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for literati that I've seen before include "educated set" , "scholars" , "intellectuals" , "The intelligentsia interested in writing and reading" , "Great minds" .)