Crossword Genius

Booze in unconfirmed story not for us (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rum

'booze' is the definition.
(rum is a kind of booze)

'unconfirmed story not for us' is the wordplay.
'unconfirmed story' becomes 'rumour' (an unconfirmed or unsubstantiated story).
'not' suggests deleting specific letters.
'for us' becomes 'our' ('our' means belonging to us).
'rumour' with 'our' taken out is 'RUM'.

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for rum that I've seen before include "Bizarre" , "Strange drink from molasses" , "Eerie" , "The spirit is peculiar" , "Odd, like sailor's drink" .)

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