Crossword Genius

Almost imbibe wine - it's sweet! (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sucrose

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'sweet' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.

'almost imbibe wine' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'imbibe' becomes 'suck' (sucking is a kind of imbibing).
'wine' becomes 'rose' (rose wine is a kind of wine).
'suck' with its final letter removed is 'suc'.
'suc'+'rose'='SUCROSE'

'it's' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sucrose that I've seen before include "Sugar's required" , "Sweetening agent -- Croesus (anag)" , "Something in nectar" , "Chief component of cane or beet sugar" , "Main part of cane sugar" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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