Crossword Genius

A New Zealand figure in an Italian resort (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

anzio

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'an italian resort' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'a new zealand figure' is the wordplay.
'new zealand' becomes 'nz' (abbreviation).
'figure' becomes 'io' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'nz'+'io'='ANZIO'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for anzio that I've seen before include "Italian site of WW2 Allied landing" , "Italian port, site of WWII allied landings" , "WW 2 landing in Italy" , "Italian WW2 beachhead" .)

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