First-class drink and gallons in the cask? (5)
I believe the answer is:
aging
'the cask?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'first-class drink and gallons' is the wordplay.
'first class' becomes 'A' (as in A-list, A-team etc).
'drink' becomes 'gin' (gin is an alcoholic drink).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'gallons' becomes 'G' (abbreviation).
'a'+'gin'+'g'='AGING'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aging that I've seen before include "Maturing" , "Getting older" , "Growing older" , "Becoming more grown-up" , "in decline" .)