Crossword Genius

Sways and drinks deeply around noon (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

swings

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

'sways' is the definition.
(I know this)

'drinks deeply around noon' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'noon' could be 'n' (abbreviation) and 'n' is present in the answer.
'drinks' could be 'swigs' (to take a swig is to take a drink) and 'swigs' is located in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for swings that I've seen before include "What you might lose on them, you could gain on the roundabouts" , "What you lose on these, you'll gain on the roundabouts" , "Moves to and fro like pendulum" , "Pieces of playground equipment" , "Moves in a curve" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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