Nice new pants the ale carried splashes (8)
I believe the answer is:
pleasant
'nice' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'new pants the ale carried splashes' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'new' could be 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament) and 'n' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
an anagram of 'ale' is 'lea' which is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'psa' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pleasant that I've seen before include "Attractive" , "Enjoyable, nice" , "Refreshing" , "Nice, satisfying" , "Likeable, friendly" .)