Crossword Genius

Swimmer wants British wine, not European (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

brisling

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

'swimmer' is the definition.
(brisling is a kind of fish)

'wants british wine not european' is the wordplay.
'wants british' becomes 'b' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'wine' becomes 'riesling' (Riesling is an example).
'not' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'riesling' with 'e' taken away is 'risling'.
'b'+'risling'='BRISLING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for brisling that I've seen before include "Swimmer" , "Small fish of the herring family" , "Norwegian fish" , "Sprat sold in a can" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app