Crossword Genius

Lads holding English pub up? Call for help! (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sonnies

'lads' is the definition.
('sonny' can be a synonym of 'lad')

'holding english pub up? call for help' is the wordplay.
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'pub' becomes 'inn' (I've seen this before).
'up?' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'call for help' becomes 'sos' (I've seen this before).
'e'+'inn'='einn'
'einn' backwards is 'nnie'.
'nnie' going inside 'sos' is 'SONNIES'.

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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