Crossword Genius

A canoe adrift around island area in the Pacific (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oceania

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

'area in the pacific' is the definition.
'oceania' can be an answer for 'area' (I have seen 'remote area' mean 'oceania' so perhaps 'area' could also mean 'oceania'). I'm unsure of the 'in the pacific' bit.

'a canoe adrift around island' is the wordplay.
'adrift' is an anagram indicator.
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'island' becomes 'i' (geographical abbreviation).
'a'+'canoe'='acanoe'
'acanoe' is an anagram of 'oceana'.
'oceana' enclosing 'i' is 'OCEANIA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for oceania that I've seen before include "Orwellian superstate" , "Orwell depicted at war" , "Pacific islands region" , "group of islands" , "Islands of the central and South Pacific" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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