Crossword Genius

Beside northern river, drinks hot punch (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

roundhouse

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'punch' is the definition.
(I know that roundhouse is a type of hook)

'beside northern river drinks' is the wordplay.
'beside' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'northern river' becomes 'house' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'drinks' becomes 'round' (as in a round of drinks).
'house' put after 'round' is 'ROUNDHOUSE'.

'hot' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for roundhouse that I've seen is " place with a turntable".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app