Crossword Genius

Visitor at night with mother welcomed by partners (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sandman

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

'visitor at night' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'with mother welcomed by partners' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'and'.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (Ma is another word for mother or mum).
'welcomed by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (letters welcomed inside).
'partners' becomes 'sn' (South and North are partners in the game bridge).
'and'+'ma'='andma'
'andma' put into 'sn' is 'SANDMAN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sandman that I've seen before include "sleepy character?" , "One of the Beach Boys" , "Fairy who puts children to sleep" , "Sender to sleep of children" , "sleep-inducing agent" .)

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