The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word DUMPS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
U
M
P
S
More clues leading to the result DUMPS
- Male broaching party's depressed state
- Party's hosting last of rhythm and blues
- Tips Democrat: American to limit Mike Pence
- Cameron in South of France to return in melancholic state
- Ends relationship with sadness
- Scraps of potato served up around meal’s starter
- Gets rid of Democrat, politician in America
- Murphy’s back around the first of March for deposits
- Tips from the French politicians
- It is dismal to be down in them
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "ditches" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ditches = dumps.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DUMPS mean?
DUMPS noun- A place where waste or garbage is left; a ground or place for dumping ashes, refuse, etc.; a disposal site.
- A car or boat for dumping refuse, etc.
- That which is dumped, especially in a chaotic way; a mess.
- An act of dumping, or its result.
- A formatted listing of the contents of program storage, especially when produced automatically by a failing program
- A storage place for supplies, especially military.
- An unpleasant, dirty, disreputable, unfashionable, boring or depressing looking place.
- (often with the verb "take") An act of defecation; a defecating.
- (usually in the plural) A sad, gloomy state of the mind; sadness; melancholy; despondency
- Absence of mind; revery.
- A pile of ore or rock.
- A melancholy strain or tune in music; any tune.
- An old kind of dance.
- A small coin made by punching a hole in a larger coin (called a holey dollar).
- A temporary display case that holds many copies of an item being sold.
- To release, especially in large quantities and chaotic manner.
- To discard; to get rid of something one does not want anymore.
- To sell below cost or very cheaply; to engage in dumping.
- To copy data from a system to another place or system, usually in order to archive it.
- To output the contents of storage or a data structure, often in order to diagnose a bug.
- To end a relationship with.
- To knock heavily; to stump.
- To put or throw down with more or less of violence; hence, to unload from a cart by tilting it
- To precipitate (especially snow) heavily.
- A thick, ill-shapen piece.
- A lead counter used in the game of chuck-farthing.
- A deep hole in a river bed; a pool.