Crossword Genius

Port wine drained after soldier pair retired (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

antwerp

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

'port' is the definition.
(Belgian port)

'wine drained after soldier pair retired' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'soldier' could be 'ant' (soldier is a type of ant) and 'ant' is located in the answer.
'retired' could be 'r' (abbreviation) and 'r' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for antwerp that I've seen before include "Busy Belgian port" , "Van Dyck birthplace" , "North Sea port" , "Province and port of Belgium" , "North Belgian port" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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