Crossword Genius

Alcohol in Asia contains new twist (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

snake

'twist' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'alcohol in asia contains new' is the wordplay.
'alcohol in asia' becomes 'sake' (Japanese alcoholic drink).
'contains' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'sake' placed around 'n' is 'SNAKE'.

(Other definitions for snake that I've seen before include "Chinese zodiac animal" , "Slithering reptile" , "Asp, perhaps?" , "former EC currency band" , "Long slender reptile" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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