18D

[davetherave1949]

18D
Invest pound in fruit

[scorpiojo]

Letter count please

[MargoTester]

Graphite

[MargoTester]

Jo, the Rest of the clue is - to get lead in your pencil (8)

[scorpiojo]

Thank you, Margo :)

[Canary42]

I do wish newbies woud read the guidelines before posting.

Etiquette For Asking A Quiz, Puzzle or Crossword Question
14:30 Tue 06th Dec 2011 The AnswerBank
1. When asking for help with a crossword clue, please do a search through AnswerBank first to see if the clue has already been answered, especially if the crossword is more than a day old.

2. If the question has not been previously posted: Please state the name, number, date and type of crossword in the title of your post, e.g. Sunday Times Cryptic 4461 27 Nov 2011

3. Remember: Not everyone will have a copy of the crossword in front of them, so please write the clue EXACTLY as it appears, the number of letters required and which (if any) you already know e.g.

13d Excellent on-line resource for answering questions (10) A?SWE?B?NK

4. If you want to post a follow-up such as a thank you for any assistance you have received, please do so in the same thread - do not start a separate thread for this.

[dannyk13]

Hardly a newbie. Been here since 2014.

[Canary42]

Oooops. "Hoist with my own petard" ;-)