Crossword Genius

Shallow end removed - it had to help? (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

facilitate

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

'help?' is the definition.
('facilitate' can be a synonym of 'help')

'shallow end removed it had' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is present in the answer.
'had' could be 'ate' (e.g. I had an ice cream) and 'ate' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for facilitate that I've seen before include "Make easier" , "Ease" , "Make (something) easy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app