Crossword Genius

Western hotel with varied tea and cereal (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wheat

'cereal' is the definition.
(I know that wheat is a type of cereal)

'western hotel with varied tea' is the wordplay.
'western' becomes 'w'.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'varied' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tea' with letters rearranged gives 'eat'.
'w'+'h'+'eat'='WHEAT'

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for wheat that I've seen before include "Grain crop" , "Cereal for bread/pasta" , "Tall grass producing light brown grain" , "Cereal grain" , "Annual grass with light brown grains" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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