How do I solve 23 across in Daily Telegraph Cryptic 31247?

Question

Accepted Answer

23 across reads "Useless type hit Crouch after header for England" (4,4 letters); the answer is LAME DUCK. It's a letter-selection clue: take specific letters from a longer source. 'First of' means the opening letter, 'extremely' means first + last, 'regularly' means every other letter, 'oddly' / 'evenly' means odd or even positions. The full step-by-step breakdown is on this page.

Useless type hit Crouch after header for England (4,4)

23A — Useless type hit Crouch after header for England (4,4) — LAME DUCK