'Messy and crowded', the first couple of cleaners said (9)
I believe the answer is:
cluttered
'messy' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'crowded the first couple of cleaners said' is the wordplay.
'the first' says to take the initial letters.
'couple of cleaners' becomes 'l' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'said' becomes 'uttered' (I've seen this before).
The first letter of 'crowded' is 'c'.
'c'+'l'+'uttered'='CLUTTERED'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cluttered that I've seen before include "Filled with things strewn about" , "Filled with objects in disorder" , "untidy" .)