I hang my northern head in shame that I got that one early on.
Fair play to you - I got the 'sounds like' word early on but it never clicked - I still think in Norn Irish, and that clue doesn't really work for that. tbf, I don't really remember seeing a clue where that was the case before.
Yes, it did, thanks! It was 13 across I had trouble with - it demands thinking in an southern English accent, which took me a while to get around.