Judicial decision curtailed by depression of the elderly? (8)
I believe the answer is:
decrepit
'the elderly?' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'judicial decision curtailed by depression' is the wordplay.
'judicial decision' becomes 'decree' (I've seen this in another clue).
'curtailed' means to remove the last letter.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'depression' becomes 'pit' (pit is a kind of depression).
'decree' with its final letter removed is 'decre'.
'decre'+'pit'='DECREPIT'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for decrepit that I've seen before include "Depicter in state of dilapidation" , "Elderly, infirm" , "like a crate?" , "ruined by neglect" , "Worn out by age or use" .)