Crossword Genius

Small hotel, eastern France, pocketing a bundle (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sheaf

'bundle' is the definition.
(I know that bundle can be written as sheaf)

'small hotel eastern france pocketing a' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'eastern' becomes 'e' ().
'france' becomes 'f'.
'pocketing' is an insertion indicator.
'e'+'f'='ef'
'ef' going around 'a' is 'eaf'.
's'+'h'+'eaf'='SHEAF'

(Other definitions for sheaf that I've seen before include "A bundle, of corn stalks or papers" , "Stack, bundle" , "Bundle of several things tied together" , "Bundle as of arrows or corn stalks" , "Tied bundle (of corn)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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