Crossword Genius

African country I rate built by queen (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eritrea

'african country' is the definition.
(country in Africa)

'i rate built by queen' is the wordplay.
'built' indicates anagramming the letters.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'queen' becomes 'ER' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'rate' anagrammed gives 'trea'.
'i'+'trea'='itrea'
'itrea' put after 'er' is 'ERITREA'.

(Other definitions for eritrea that I've seen before include "It became independent of Ethiopia in 1993" , "North-east African state" , "State of northeast Africa" , "Country of northeast Africa" , "NE African country" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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