Pictures friends crossing street on Ecstasy (7)
I believe the answer is:
pastels
'pictures' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'friends crossing street on ecstasy' is the wordplay.
'friends' becomes 'pals' (pal is a kind of friend).
'crossing' is an insertion indicator (to cross can mean to go over or around).
'street' becomes 'st' (abbreviation).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'ecstasy' becomes 'E' (informal term for the drug).
'st'+'e'='ste'
'pals' going around 'ste' is 'PASTELS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for pastels that I've seen is " Pale hues".)