Crossword Genius

Family needing inner energy eats plants (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

celandines

'plants' is the definition.
(celandine is a kind of plant)

'family needing inner energy eats' is the wordplay.
'family' becomes 'clan' (clan can mean a large family).
'needing inner' is an insertion indicator.
'energy' becomes 'e' (physics symbol as in E=mc2).
'eats' becomes 'dines' (dining is a kind of eating).
'clan' enclosing 'e' is 'celan'.
'celan'+'dines'='CELANDINES'

(Another definition for celandines that I've seen is " Flowers".)

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