Giving water and shade to, was merciful with (6)
I believe the answer is:
spared
'was merciful with' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'giving water and shade' is the wordplay.
'giving water' becomes 'spa' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'giving' bit.).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'shade' becomes 'red'.
'spa'+'red'='SPARED'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spared that I've seen before include "Showed mercy, refrained from hurting" , "Dealt leniently with" , "did without" , "Voluntarily parted with" , "Avoided incurring" .)