Crossword Genius

Did they fly off with the cheese? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

titmice

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

'did they fly' is the definition.
The definition and answer are not the same part of speech.

'off with the cheese?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'off' could be 'ice' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'ice' is found in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for titmice that I've seen before include "Little singers" , "Small birds" , "Small, active songbirds" , "little birds" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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