Crossword Genius

Candidate with a small point about ME country (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aspirant

'candidate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a small point about me country' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'point' becomes 'pt' (**).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'me country' becomes 'iran' (I've seen this before).
'pt' going around 'iran' is 'pirant'.
'a'+'s'+'pirant'='ASPIRANT'

'with' is the link.

(Other definitions for aspirant that I've seen before include "Partisan may be person with high ambition" , "One works hard to achieve something" , "expressing high ambition?" , "One who wants to succeed" , "Hopeful candidate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app