Crossword Genius

Alluring birds with ale, drunk, on Ecstasy (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

desirable

'alluring' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'birds with ale drunk on ecstasy' is the wordplay.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'drunk' indicates anagramming the letters.
'on' is an insertion indicator (as in clothing \'on\' a person).
'ecstasy' becomes 'e' (informal term for the drug).
'birds' put after 'ale' is 'alebirds'.
'alebirds' is an anagram of 'dsirable'.
'dsirable' going around 'e' is 'DESIRABLE'.

(Other definitions for desirable that I've seen before include "handsome maybe" , "Attractive" , "Alluring" , "Worth having" , "Pleasing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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