Crossword Genius

Spendthrift - gutted man indeed ruined (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

destroyed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'ruined' is the definition.
(I know that ruined can be written as destroyed)

'spendthrift gutted man indeed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'man' could be 'troy' and 'troy' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for destroyed that I've seen before include "Damaged irreparably, ruined" , "Annihilated" , "Demolished, ruined" , "in ruins" , "Took out" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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