Crossword Genius

A contest between two Poles and an Arab (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

saracen

'an arab' is the definition.
(Saracen is an example)

'a contest between two poles' is the wordplay.
'contest' becomes 'race' (race is a kind of contest).
'between' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'two poles' becomes 'sn'.
'a'+'race'='arace'
'arace' placed within 'sn' is 'SARACEN'.

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for saracen that I've seen before include "Arab fighting the Crusades" , "Crusader's foe" , "Old Arab" , "Muslim defender in Crusades" , "old Muslim back" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph and The Globe and Mail.
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