Dear old Hoskins has put on pound by end of binges (9)
I believe the answer is:
expensive
'dear' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'old hoskins has put on pound by end of binges' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'hoskins has' becomes 'I've' (where the crossword setter is 'Hoskins').
'put on' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go on or after others).
'pound by' becomes 'pen' (both can mean an animal enclosure. I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'end of' says to take the final letters.
The final letter of 'binges' is 's'.
'pen'+'s'='pens'
'ive' put after 'pens' is 'pensive'.
'ex'+'pensive'='EXPENSIVE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for expensive that I've seen before include "not going for a song" , "Costing a lot of money" , "Charging a lot" , "High in price" , "Very costly or dear" .)