Crossword Genius

Caddies stored up wine in empty cellars (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

canisters

'caddies' is the definition.
(both are types of containers)

'stored up wine in empty cellars' is the wordplay.
'stored up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in a down clue, letters go up).
'wine' becomes 'retsina' (type of Greek wine).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'empty' suggests removing the centre.
'cellars' with its middle taken out is 'cs'.
'retsina' back-to-front is 'anister'.
'anister' inserted into 'cs' is 'CANISTERS'.

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