Conspirator grasses when picked up (5)
I believe the answer is:
oates
'conspirator' is the definition.
(titus oates)
'grasses when picked up' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'oats' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oates that I've seen before include "Captain -, polar explorer with Scott" , "Captain on Scott expedition who died in blizzard" , "man who achieved 1 ac [POLE POSITION]" , "One of Captain Scott's doomed 1912 South Pole team" , "South Pole hero; Popish Plotter" .)