Crossword Genius

Border of France about level (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

frontier

'border' is the definition.
(I know that border can be written as frontier)

'france about level' is the wordplay.
'france' becomes 'fr' (abbreviation).
'about' becomes 'on' (as in a book 'on' a certain topic).
'level' becomes 'tier' (synonyms).
'fr'+'on'+'tier'='FRONTIER'

'of' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for frontier that I've seen before include "Wilderness at the edge of a settled area" , "Limit" , "Verge" , "wild area" , "Land-border of a country" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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