Crossword Genius

Maiden in the morning initially bitten by a snake (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mamba

'snake' is the definition.
(I know that Mamba is a type of elapid)

'maiden in the morning initially bitten by a' is the wordplay.
'maiden' becomes 'm' (cricket abbreviation).
'in the morning' becomes 'am' (AM on a clock).
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
The first letter of 'bitten' is 'b'.
'm'+'am'+'b'+'a'='MAMBA'

(Other definitions for mamba that I've seen before include "Poisonous creature" , "serpent" , "Venomous African snake (often black)" , "Venomous snake; rhymes with dance" , "venomous crawler" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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