Slipshod of the Spanish or French to intervene in stroke (8)
I believe the answer is:
careless
'slipshod' is the definition.
('careless' can be similar in meaning to 'slipshod')
'the spanish or french to intervene in stroke' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the spanish' could be 'el' and 'el' is found in the answer.
'stroke' could be 'caress' ('caress' can be a synonym of 'stroke') and 'caress' is found within the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for careless that I've seen before include "Unconcerned; casual" , "Slapdash" , "Inconsiderate" , "Incautious" , "Inattentive to risk" .)