Crossword Genius

Use fuel to get out of dead ends in a drunken state (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fuddle

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

'a drunken state' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'use fuel to get out of dead ends' is the wordplay.
'use' is an anagram indicator.
'to get' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'out of dead ends' becomes 'dd' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'fuel' is an anagram of 'fule'.
'fule' placed around 'dd' is 'FUDDLE'.

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fuddle that I've seen before include "Confuse" , "Bemuse (with liquor)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app