Crack in a dry drain Yankee leaves (7)
I believe the answer is:
attempt
'crack' is the definition.
(as in having a crack at something)
'a dry drain yankee leaves' is the wordplay.
'a dry' becomes 'att' (I've seen this in other clues).
'drain' suggests removing the centre (I've seen 'drained' mean this).
'yankee leaves' becomes 'tempt' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'att' with its centre removed is 'at'.
'at'+'tempt'='ATTEMPT'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for attempt that I've seen before include "Try, endeavour" , "Essay" , "Stab" , "Try to climb (a peak)" , "Have a crack" .)