After start of equinox, definitely took ecstasy to provide protection against the sun (8)
I believe the answer is:
eyeshade
'provide protection against the sun' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'after start of equinox definitely took ecstasy' is the wordplay.
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'start of' says to take the initial letters.
'definitely' becomes 'yes' ('definitely' can be used to say 'yes').
'took' becomes 'had' ('have' can be a synonym of 'take').
'ecstasy' becomes 'E' (informal term for the drug).
The initial letter of 'equinox' is 'e'.
'e' next to 'yes' is 'eyes'.
'eyes'+'had'+'e'='EYESHADE'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eyeshade that I've seen before include "Protective visor" , "something like CAP" , "Visor to protect from strong light" , "Device to protect sight from strong light" , "Visor worn by card-players" .)