French artist might remove petrol thus (5)
I believe the answer is:
degas
'french artist' is the definition.
(Edgar Degas, 1834-1917)
'might remove petrol thus' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'remove' could be 'de' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'de' is located in the answer.
'petrol' could be 'gas' (synonyms) and 'gas' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for degas that I've seen before include "He painted dancers" , "Edgar -, French impressionist" , "French artist known for his ballet scenes, d.1917" , "Edgar --, French artist" , "Edgar ---, Fr. impressionist" .)