Crossword Genius

Ditch is dry, empty and retained with no point (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dyke

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'ditch' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'dry empty and retained with no point' is the wordplay.
'empty' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'retained with no point' becomes 'ke' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'dry' with its centre taken out is 'dy'.
'dy'+'ke'='DYKE'

'is' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dyke that I've seen before include "Offa's barrier?" , "Barrier to keep out the sea" , "Earthwork; watercourse" , "Flood barrier" , "Flood defence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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