Crossword Genius

Staff splitting fruit for epicure (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gourmand

'epicure' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'staff splitting fruit' is the wordplay.
'staff' becomes 'man' (manning is a kind of staffing).
'splitting' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'fruit' becomes 'gourd' (gourd is a kind of fruit).
'man' placed within 'gourd' is 'GOURMAND'.

'for' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for gourmand that I've seen before include "Glutton, lover of food" , "lover of good food" , "One who enjoys eating" , "Hearty feeder" , "Devotee of eating and drinking to excess" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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