An old railway hotel by river providing charitable accommodation? (9)
I believe the answer is:
almshouse
'accommodation?' is the definition.
(I have seen 'poor accommodation' mean 'almshouse' so perhaps 'accommodation' could also mean 'almshouse')
'an old railway hotel by river providing charitable' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'an' could be 'a' and 'a' is present in the answer.
'old' could be 'o' (abbreviation) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'railway' could be 'lms' and 'lms' is found in the answer.
'hotel' could be 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'h' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'use' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for almshouse that I've seen before include "home for the poor" , "dwelling for an old woman?" , "home for the needy" , "Shelter charitably provided" , "Accommodation for the needy" .)