Crossword Genius

Duke having a tea in a country house (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dacha

'a country house' is the definition.
(dacha is a kind of country house)

'duke having a tea' is the wordplay.
'duke' becomes 'd'.
'having' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'tea' becomes 'cha' (cha is a type of tea).
'd'+'a'+'cha'='DACHA'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for dacha that I've seen before include "Country home in Russia" , "A Russian country cottage" , "summer house" , "Russian second home" , "Russian's second home in the country" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app