Crossword Genius

American taxi round American centre (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

carib

'american' is the definition.
(the Caribs are a Central and South American people)

'taxi round american centre' is the wordplay.
'taxi' becomes 'cab' (synonyms).
'round' indicates putting letters inside.
'centre' means to look at the middle letters.
The centre of 'american' is 'ri'.
'cab' placed around 'ri' is 'CARIB'.

(Other definitions for carib that I've seen before include "Native of West Indies and northern South America" , "Indian" , "Native and language giving name to a sea" , "S. American language" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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