Crossword Genius

Stimulate a youngster with a bit of hope (3,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pep up

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'stimulate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a youngster with a bit of hope' is the wordplay.
'a youngster' becomes 'pup' (I've seen this in other clues).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a bit of hope' becomes 'pe' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'pup' put after 'pe' is 'PEP UP'.

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I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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