Crossword Genius

Hairy spider's ending in drink (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

whiskery

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

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

'spider's ending in drink' is the wordplay.
'spider's ending' becomes 'er' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'drink' becomes 'whisky' (whisky is a kind of drink).
'er' placed inside 'whisky' is 'WHISKERY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for whiskery that I've seen before include "Hairy" , "Bearded" , "mutton chops" , "With facial hair" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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