Mishandled American editor after one pair of lines (3-4)
I believe the answer is:
ill-used
'mishandled' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'american editor after one pair of lines' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'american' could be 'us' (United States) and 'us' is found within the answer.
'editor' could be 'ed' (abbreviation) and 'ed' is found in the answer.
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is present in the answer.
'lines' could be 'll' (two abbreviations for line) and 'll' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ill-used that I've seen before include "Badly treated, exploited" , "Mistreated" , "Maltreated" .)