Crossword Genius

Two bachelors embracing the short lady — that's David's wife! (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bathsheba

'david's wife' is the definition.
(wife of King David in the Bible)

'two bachelors embracing the short lady' is the wordplay.
'two bachelors' becomes 'BA BA' (two abbreviations for Bachelor of Arts).
'embracing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'lady' becomes 'she' ('she' refers to a woman).
'the' with its final letter taken off is 'th'.
'th'+'she'='thshe'
'baba' enclosing 'thshe' is 'BATHSHEBA'.

'that's' is the link.

(Other definitions for bathsheba that I've seen before include "who married David?" , "Wife of Uriah" , "biblical character" , "OT character" , "female partner in affair" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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