He's getting bitter and cross (4)

I believe the answer is:

alex

'he's' is the definition.

'bitter and cross' is the wordplay.
'bitter' becomes 'ale' (type of beer or bitter).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'cross' becomes 'x' (X is cross-shaped).
'ale'+'x'='ALEX'

'getting' is the link.

(Another definition for alex that I've seen is " Sandy".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

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