Crossword Genius

Actor in the wings with ABC containing current language (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

arabic

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

'language' is the definition.
(Arabic is a language)

'actor in the wings with abc containing current' is the wordplay.
'actor in the wings' becomes 'ar' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'containing' is an insertion indicator.
'current' becomes 'I' (symbol for electric current).
'abc' placed around 'i' is 'abic'.
'ar'+'abic'='ARABIC'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for arabic that I've seen before include "Final" , "Language (by gum!)" , "foreign language" , "Language of North Africa and the Middle East" , "1 [GCSE]" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app