French department being on benefits, their consumers are idle (7)
I believe the answer is:
lotuses
'consumers are idle' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'french department being on benefits' is the wordplay.
'french department' becomes 'lot' (department in southern France).
'being on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'benefits' becomes 'uses' (I've seen this in another clue).
'lot'+'uses'='LOTUSES'
'their' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lotuses that I've seen before include "Plants" , "flowers" , "Water lilies" , "bloomers" , "sports cars" .)