Crossword Genius

Parachutes, I see, regularly fail, having excess fluid (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dropsical

'having excess fluid' is the definition.
(affected by dropsy)

'parachutes i see regularly fail' is the wordplay.
'parachutes' becomes 'drops' (parachute can mean to drop from an aircraft).
'see' becomes 'C' (the word for the letter, according to Chambers).
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
The alternate letters of 'fail' are 'al'.
'drops'+'i'+'c'+'al'='DROPSICAL'

(Another definition for dropsical that I've seen is " bloated with water".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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