Groups holding tortured lad in deeply eroded waste areas (8)
I believe the answer is:
badlands
'deeply eroded waste areas' is the definition.
The definition suggests a plural noun which matches the answer.
'groups holding tortured lad' is the wordplay.
'groups' becomes 'bands' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'holding' indicates putting letters inside.
'tortured' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen this in other clues).
'lad' anagrammed gives 'adl'.
'bands' enclosing 'adl' is 'BADLANDS'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for badlands that I've seen is " Barren region of South Dakota and Nebraska".)