Placated after hole made less clear (9)
I believe the answer is:
opacified
'made less clear' is the definition.
The definition suggests a past participle verb which matches the answer.
'placated after hole' is the wordplay.
'placated' becomes 'pacified' ('pacify' can be a synonym of 'placate').
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'hole' becomes 'O' (O looks like a hole).
'pacified' put after 'o' is 'OPACIFIED'.
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