Needing regeneration, Reeves leading the way - it's most brutal (8)
I believe the answer is:
severest
'most brutal' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are superlative adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'needing regeneration reeves leading the way' is the wordplay.
'needing regeneration' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'leading' suggests taking the first letters (the leading letter of the word).
'way' indicates an anagram (another way of arranging the letters).
The first letter of 'the' is 't'.
'reeves'+'t'='reevest'
'reevest' anagrammed gives 'everest'.
's'+'everest'='SEVEREST'
'it's' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for severest that I've seen before include "Most strict and harsh" , "Most harsh and punitive" , "Most extreme or difficult" , "Most dangerous" .)