Crossword Genius

Smelling unpleasant, having got caught in the drain, somehow (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rancid

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

'smelling' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'caught in the drain somehow' is the wordplay.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'somehow' is an anagram indicator.
'drain' with letters rearranged gives 'ranid'.
'c' inserted inside 'ranid' is 'RANCID'.

'unpleasant having got' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rancid that I've seen before include "Putrid" , "Tasting or smelling sour, butter say" , "Rank, high" , "Rank in smell and taste" , "Unpleasantly stale" .)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app