Big snake long to change in Northern Italian city? (7)
I believe the answer is:
bologna
'italian city?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'big snake long to change in' is the wordplay.
'big snake' becomes 'boa' (boa is a kind of snake. I am not sure about the 'big' bit.).
'to change' indicates an anagram.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'long' anagrammed gives 'logn'.
'boa' enclosing 'logn' is 'BOLOGNA'.
'northern' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bologna that I've seen before include "North Italian university city" , "Italian city - smoked sausage" , "Capital of Emilia-Romagna" , "Italian province" .)