Crossword Genius

Quixotic hero has spades, good at practical work (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shandy

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

'quixotic hero' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'spades good at practical work' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'spades' could be 's' (abbreviation in card games) and 's' is found in the answer.
'practical' could be 'handy' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'handy' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'has' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shandy that I've seen before include "Beer/lemonade drink" , "Beer/lemonade mixture" , "A misture of ale and lemonade" , "Beer-lemonade mix" , "Weakly-alcoholic drink" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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