Crossword Genius

Shedding tears due to oddly spicy dish, perhaps, and eating only half (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crying

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

'shedding tears' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'oddly spicy dish perhaps and eating only half' is the wordplay.
'oddly spicy dish' becomes 'cr' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'perhaps' becomes 'y' (I've seen this in other clues).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'only half' suggests halving the letters.
'eating' halved is 'ing'.
'cr'+'y'+'ing'='CRYING'

'due to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for crying that I've seen before include "Shame may be" , "Shedding tears" , "Tearful" , "Sobbing" , "Lachrymose" .)

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