Crossword Genius

Handcuff chap covering Conservative with beer (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

manacle

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

'handcuff' is the definition.
(I know that handcuff can be written as manacle)

'chap covering conservative with beer' is the wordplay.
'chap' becomes 'man' (chap can mean a man).
'covering' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'conservative with' becomes 'c' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'beer' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'c' put within 'ale' is 'acle'.
'man'+'acle'='MANACLE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for manacle that I've seen before include "restricting at the cuff?" , "Curb" , "item restricting movement" , "Metal shackle" , "Fetter" .)

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