Crossword Genius

Emperor with no time to eat fish? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sardine

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'emperor with no time to eat fish?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'emperor with no time to eat fish?' is the wordplay.
'emperor' becomes 'tsar' (I've seen this before).
'with no' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'time' becomes 't'.
'to eat fish?' becomes 'dine' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'tsar' with 't' taken away is 'sar'.
'sar'+'dine'='SARDINE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sardine that I've seen before include "(Cramped?) fish" , "Fish (often tinned)" , "Young pilchard" , "Small fish, usually canned" , "A diner's small fish" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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