Maniacal despots impounding 1,000 computers (8)
I believe the answer is:
desktops
'computers' is the definition.
(desktop is a type of computer)
'maniacal despots impounding 1000' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'1000' could be 'k' (synonyms) and 'k' is found within the answer.
an anagram of 'despots' is 'destops' which is located in the left over letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for desktops that I've seen is " Working surfaces".)