Conservative cut by utter defeat? One such could be in the soup (7)
I believe the answer is:
crouton
'one such could be in the soup' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'conservative cut by utter defeat?' is the wordplay.
'conservative' becomes 'con' (abbreviation for Conservative).
'cut by' indicates putting letters inside (some letters cut their way into a word).
'utter defeat?' becomes 'rout' (I've seen this in another clue).
'con' going around 'rout' is 'CROUTON'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crouton that I've seen before include "Fried bread as garnish" , "Small piece of toasted or fried bread served in soup" , "One might be in the soup" , "little bit of bread" , "One's in the soup" .)