Crossword Genius

No good holding stew containing pea, say, one in a pod? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dolphin

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

'one in a pod?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'no good holding stew containing pea' is the wordplay.
'no' is a deletion indicator.
'good' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'stew' is an anagram indicator.
'containing' indicates putting letters inside.
'pea' becomes 'p' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'holding' with 'g' taken away is 'holdin'.
'holdin' with letters rearranged gives 'dolhin'.
'dolhin' placed around 'p' is 'DOLPHIN'.

'say' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dolphin that I've seen before include "Sea creature" , "Intelligent marine mammal" , "Porpoise-like fish" , "Sea mammal like large porpoise, friendly towards people" , "Snall type of whale" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.