Ditch wants stripping and cutting (9)
I believe the answer is:
trenchant
'cutting' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'ditch wants stripping' is the wordplay.
'ditch' becomes 'trench' (trench is a kind of ditch).
'stripping' says to take the centre (outer letters strip off).
The central letters of 'wants' are 'ant'.
'trench'+'ant'='TRENCHANT'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for trenchant that I've seen before include "Distinct" , "caustic?" , "Sharp" , "Vigorous, incisive" , "Expressively incisive" .)