Crossword Genius

Cynic with dope and ale disrupted source of dope (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

encyclopedia

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'source of dope' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'cynic with dope and ale disrupted' is the wordplay.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'disrupted' is an anagram indicator.
'dope'+'ale'='dopeale'
'cynic' put after 'dopeale' is 'dopealecynic'.
'dopealecynic' anagrammed gives 'ENCYCLOPEDIA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for encyclopedia that I've seen before include "Book of knowledge" , "Reference book" , "Reference work" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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