Crossword Genius

English and French articles used in preparing alcoholic drinks (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ales

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'alcoholic drinks' is the definition.
(ale is a type of alcoholic drink)

'english and french articles used in preparing' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'french articles' becomes 'al' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'used in' indicates the central letters (the letters used on the inside of the word).
'preparing' becomes 'poising' (poising is a kind of preparing).
The central letter of 'poising' is 's'.
'e' put after 'al' is 'ale'.
'ale'+'s'='ALES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ales that I've seen before include "A sale of beers" , "What might be delivered by pumps" , "Types of beer" , "Alcoholic drinks" .)

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