Came across gold during a delay up country (9)
I believe the answer is:
guatemala
'country' is the definition.
(Guatemala is an example)
'came across gold during a delay up' is the wordplay.
'came across' becomes 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'come across').
'gold' becomes 'au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'during' indicates putting letters inside.
'delay' becomes 'lag' (lag is a kind of delay**).
'up' is a reversal indicator (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'met'+'au'='metau'
'a'+'lag'='alag'
'metau' going within 'alag' is 'alametaug'.
'alametaug' reversed gives 'GUATEMALA'.
(Other definitions for guatemala that I've seen before include "Central American state" , "place overseas" , "Central American country" , "Spanish-speaking country in Central America" , "country south of the USA" .)