Big house rebuilt pine shelter by Iowa railway? (12)
I believe the answer is:
penitentiary
'big house' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'rebuilt pine shelter by iowa railway?' is the wordplay.
'rebuilt' indicates an anagram.
'shelter by' becomes 'tent' (canvas shelter. I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'iowa' becomes 'IA' (abbreviation).
'railway?' becomes 'ry' (abbreviation).
'pine' with letters rearranged gives 'peni'.
'peni'+'tent'+'ia'+'ry'='PENITENTIARY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for penitentiary that I've seen before include "US prison" , "Senior Catholic" , "American prison" , "stir" .)