Crossword Genius

Heavy drinkers they say are quite rich (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lushes

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

'heavy drinkers' is the definition.
'lushes' can be an answer for 'drinkers' (lush is a kind of drinker). I am not sure about the 'heavy' bit.

'they say are quite rich' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'rich' could be 'lush' (similar in meaning) and 'lush' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'es' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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