Crossword Genius

Drink trader left in charge of pound stores (3-7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

off-licence

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'drink trader' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.

'left in charge of pound stores' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'L' (common abbreviation).
'in charge' becomes 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge').
'of pound' becomes 'offence' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'stores' is an insertion indicator.
'l'+'ic'='lic'
'lic' put into 'offence' is 'OFF-LICENCE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for off-licence that I've seen before include "Liquor store" , "Shop selling alcohol" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times.
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