Crossword Genius

Adrift in the Adriatic? (2,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

at sea

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'adrift' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the adriatic?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'adriatic?' could be 'sea' (adriatic is a kind of sea) and 'sea' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'a' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for at sea that I've seen before include "floundering" , "sailing the Atlantic?" , "Where to find flounders" , "on board" , "Perplexed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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