Crossword Genius

Sailor in bed rolled edges of cacao leaves (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tobacco

'leaves' is the definition.
(tobacco leaves)

'sailor in bed rolled edges of cacao' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'bed' becomes 'cot' (cot is a type of bed).
'rolled' is a reversal indicator (letters roll back).
'edges of' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'cacao' with its middle taken out is 'co'.
'ab' put into 'cot' is 'cabot'.
'cabot' back-to-front is 'tobac'.
'tobac'+'co'='TOBACCO'

(Other definitions for tobacco that I've seen before include "Pipe leaves" , "Addictive leaf" , "20 [CASTRO] 's favourite leaves" , "Smokable plant" , "Dangerous plant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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