Crossword Genius

Confuse feral soaked in ale (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bewilder

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

'confuse' is the definition.
(I know that bewilder is a more specific form of confuse)

'feral soaked in ale' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'feral' could be 'wild' (similar in meaning) and 'wild' is present in the answer.
'ale' could be 'beer' (ale is a type of beer) and 'beer' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bewilder that I've seen before include "Perplex the wild beer" , "Baffle" , "Wild beer tending to confuse" , "Flummox, confuse" , "Confuse totally" .)

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