Crossword Genius

Small drink in India as an alternative (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

instead

'as an alternative' is the definition.
('instead' can be a synonym of 'as an alternative')

'small drink in india' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'drink' becomes 'tea' (tea is a kind of drink**).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'india' becomes 'ind' (I've seen this in other clues).
's'+'tea'='stea'
'stea' inserted into 'ind' is 'INSTEAD'.

(Other definitions for instead that I've seen before include "As a substitute" , "use this as a replacement" , "as an alternative option" , "Rather - detains (anag)" , "In place (of)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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.