Crossword Genius

How Spooner may serve macho male thug smuggling drug (5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ladle out

'how spooner may serve' is the definition.
(ladle is a type of spoon)

'macho male thug smuggling drug' is the wordplay.
'macho male' becomes 'lad' (lad can mean a macho man).
'thug' becomes 'lout'.
'smuggling' indicates putting letters inside (some letters smuggled inside).
'drug' becomes 'e' (E is another name for ecstasy).
'lout' going around 'e' is 'leout'.
'lad'+'leout'='LADLE OUT'

(Other definitions for ladle out that I've seen before include "Serve" , "distribute" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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