Ready to drop ecstasy after gift, looking embarrassed (9)
I believe the answer is:
knackered
'ready' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, adjectives and past participle verbs sometimes define each other.
'drop ecstasy after gift looking embarrassed' is the wordplay.
'drop' says to take the initial letters (I've seen 'drop of' mean this).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'gift' becomes 'knack' (knack is a kind of gift).
'looking embarrassed' becomes 'red' (someone may go red when embarrassed).
The first letter of 'ecstasy' is 'e'.
'e' after 'knack' is 'knacke'.
'knacke'+'red'='KNACKERED'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for knackered that I've seen before include "Worn out" , "Exhausted (slang)" .)