Crossword Genius

Cuban steps over short snake first (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mambo

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'cuban steps' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'over short snake first' is the wordplay.
'over' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'snake' becomes 'mamba' (mamba is a kind of snake).
'first' becomes 'o' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'mamba' with its final letter taken off is 'mamb'.
'mamb' next to 'o' is 'MAMBO'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mambo that I've seen before include "Quick Caribbean dance" , "Dance derived from voodoo rituals" , "voodoo priestess" , "Latin American dance of Haitian origin" , "voodoo woman" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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