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Victor and Oscar have whiskey on the sierra and nuns have to take them (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

vows

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

'nuns have to take them' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'victor and oscar have whiskey on the sierra' is the wordplay.
'victor' becomes 'V' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'oscar' becomes 'O' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'have whiskey on' becomes 'w' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the sierra' becomes 'S' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'v'+'o'+'w'+'s'='VOWS'

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for vows that I've seen before include "Pledges or religious oaths" , "Solemn promises" , "Oaths and promises" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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