Crossword Genius

Berber, say, directed Sarah to an extent (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

saharan

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'berber' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'directed sarah to an extent' is the wordplay.
'directed' is an anagram indicator.
'to an' becomes 'a'.
'extent' becomes 'n' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sarah' with letters rearranged gives 'sahar'.
'sahar'+'a'+'n'='SAHARAN'

'say' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for saharan that I've seen before include "Baking" , "Deserter" , "Relating to the North African desert" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.
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