A bishop taking crack? Pardon! (7)
I believe the answer is:
absolve
'pardon' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a bishop taking crack?' is the wordplay.
'bishop' becomes 'b' (abbreviation used in chess).
'taking' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'crack?' becomes 'solve' (I've seen this before).
'a'+'b'+'solve'='ABSOLVE'
(Other definitions for absolve that I've seen before include "Cleanse" , "Grant remission of a sin" , "Set free from guilt" , "Exculpate" , "Declare (someone) guilt-free" .)