Crossword Genius

Bashed in first of stakes to dishearten vampire (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stove

'bashed' is the definition.
(stove in can mean bashed in)

'first of stakes to dishearten vampire' is the wordplay.
'first of stakes' becomes 's' (1st letter of 'stakes').
'dishearten' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'vampire' with its middle removed is 've'.
's'+'to'+'ve'='STOVE'

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for stove that I've seen before include "Broke a hole in" , "Oven" , "Votes (anag)" , "Old cooker" , "Cooking apparatus" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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