Crossword Genius

Big Bird is a dish! (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bowl

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

'dish' is the definition.
(I know that Bowl is a bowl)

'big bird' is the wordplay.
'big' becomes 'b' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'bird' becomes 'owl' (owl is a kind of bird).
'b'+'owl'='BOWL'

'is a' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bowl that I've seen before include "Greatly surprise" , "Soup dish - roll a ball" , "food container" , "Basin; attack wicket" , "US stadium for sporting or musical events" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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