Crop cloth covering snooker table, with money to replace balls, at first (5)
I believe the answer is:
maize
'crop' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maize that I've seen before include "American corn" , "Corncob plant" , "one could make a meal of it" , "Cereal crop" , "Tall cereal grass producing large edible ears" .)