Smear nation state (6)

I believe the answer is:

grease

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

'smear nation state' is the definition.
'grease' can be an answer for 'smear' (thesaurus). I am not sure about the 'nation state' bit.

'smear nation state' is the wordplay.
'smear nation' becomes 'gr' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'state' becomes 'ease' (ease is a kind of state).
'gr'+'ease'='GREASE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for grease that I've seen before include "Mechanic (informal)" , "Lubricate (-ant)" , "Fully aware, astonished" , "Musical starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John" , "Musical that sounds like a country" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and the Irish Times.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app