Crossword Genius

The wine in Provence is sent back? Complain tearfully (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

snivel

'complain tearfully' is the definition.
(to snivel is to complain and cry about something)

'the wine in provence is sent back?' is the wordplay.
'the wine' becomes 'vin' ('wine' in French).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'provence' becomes 'les' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'is sent back?' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'vin' inserted inside 'les' is 'levins'.
'levins' backwards is 'SNIVEL'.

(Other definitions for snivel that I've seen before include "Whine tearfully (through the nose?)" , "Cry in miserable whining way" , "Whine (with a runny nose?)" , "Whimper" , "Blub revoltingly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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