Caustically criticises the cooking utensils (4)

I believe the answer is:

pans

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This could be a double definition.

'caustically criticises' is the first definition.
'pans' can be an answer for 'criticises' (pan can mean to criticise severely). I'm not sure about the 'caustically' bit.

'cooking utensils' is the second definition.
(pan is a kind of cooking utensil)

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pans that I've seen before include "Criticises" , "Kitchen utensils" , "kitchen equipment" , "Cooking utensils" , "vessels" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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