Humble Derby lot given a hand (7)
I believe the answer is:
deflate
'humble' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'derby lot given a hand' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'lot' could be 'd' and 'd' is present in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
'hand' could be 'l' (abbreviation for left, as in the left-hand side) and 'l' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for deflate that I've seen before include "Cause to shrink or collapse" , "Let the wind out of, braggart or balloon" , "Puncture, collapse like balloon" , "Release air from" , "Release gas from" .)