We take a look at Wednesday’s 1 Across cryptic crossword clue from The Times today:
The straight part of the clue here is ‘pouches’, and the synonym they’ve gone with doesn't necessarily spring to mind immediately...
Let’s look at the cryptic part — in this instance ‘female’ denotes a female name which is ‘holding’ another term for ‘drink’ within it.
The name is Maria, and the other way of saying ‘drink’ is ‘sup’. Put sup inside Maria and we get MARSUPIA.
marsupia {noun} pouches in most female marsupials within which the newly born offspring are suckled and complete their development.