Crossword Genius

Butterfly on empty tray that represents sailors (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

admiralty

'that represents sailors' is the definition.

'butterfly on empty tray' is the wordplay.
'butterfly' becomes 'admiral' (admiral is a kind of butterfly**).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'empty' means to remove the middle letters.
'tray' with its middle removed is 'ty'.
'admiral'+'ty'='ADMIRALTY'

(Other definitions for admiralty that I've seen before include "Department of 1 across in charge of the Navy" , "UK state department in charge of the Royal Navy" , "HQ" , "Former Department in charge of the navy in Britain" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.