Crossword Genius

Animals here include badger between outskirts of Milwaukee and Great Lake (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

menagerie

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

'animals' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'badger between outskirts of milwaukee and great lake' is the wordplay.
'badger' becomes 'nag' (both can mean to annoy or complain at).
'between' is an insertion indicator.
'outskirts of' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (only letters on the outskirts).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'great lake' becomes 'erie' (Erie is one of the Great Lakes).
'milwaukee' with its middle taken out is 'me'.
'me'+'erie'='meerie'
'nag' placed within 'meerie' is 'MENAGERIE'.

'here include' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for menagerie that I've seen before include "Animals go in here" , "where the occupants behave like animals" , "A collection of wild animals in captivity" , "Beastly lot" , "Collection of wild animals in cages" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app