Department has lost heart in remotest area (6)
I believe the answer is:
depths
'department has lost heart in remotest area' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'department has lost heart in' is the wordplay.
'department' becomes 'dept'.
'has' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'lost heart in' becomes 'hs' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'dept'+'hs'='DEPTHS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for depths that I've seen before include "Demoralisation" , "Deep water" , "Sea bottom" , "lowest part" , "Deepest or most central parts" .)