Ease off the downward pressure? (3,2)
I believe the answer is:
let up
'ease off' is the definition.
(I know that ease off can be written as let up)
'the downward pressure?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'pressure?' could be 'p' (abbreviation) and 'p' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'leu' 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 let up that I've seen before include "Abate" , "allowed out of bed?" , "stop" , "Pause, respite" , "Slackening" .)