Crossword Genius

Damage pants out in rain (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ruination

'damage' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'pants out in rain' is the wordplay.
'pants' is an anagram indicator (UK informal term for 'nonsense' or 'rubbish').
'out'+'in'+'rain'='outinrain'
'outinrain' is an anagram of 'RUINATION'.

(Other definitions for ruination that I've seen before include "End" , "In financial disaster" , "A fruit; Chuck ---, rock 'n' roll singer" , "Utter destruction" , "total disaster" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app