Series of shots initially are downed easily after a lot of pasta (9)
I believe the answer is:
fusillade
'series of shots initially' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'are downed easily after a lot of pasta' is the wordplay.
'are downed easily' becomes 'ade' (this could be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a lot of' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'pasta' becomes 'fusilli' (I've seen this before).
'fusilli' with its last letter taken off is 'fusill'.
'ade' after 'fusill' is 'FUSILLADE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fusillade that I've seen before include "Onslaught" , "shot series?" , "salvo" , "Rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms" , "Rapid series of shots" .)