27 across
Article
describes
hesitation
in
retreat,
like
in
scenes
of
conflict
(6)
Article describes hesitation in retreat, like in scenes of conflict (6)
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The definition is at the end of the clue.
How the clue works
So scenes of conflict is your definition — think amphitheatres and battlegrounds. You take AN (an article), put inside it RE (which is ER for hesitation, flipped backwards as signalled by 'in retreat'), then tack on AS for 'like' to finish it off and give you ARENA.