Crossword Genius

Catch sight of The Borders' tourist traps coming back (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spot

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'catch sight of' is the definition.
(to spot is to notice or catch sight of)

'the borders' tourist traps coming back' is the wordplay.
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'borders' tourist traps' becomes 'ops' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'coming back' is a reversal indicator.
't'+'ops'='tops'
'tops' reversed gives 'SPOT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spot that I've seen before include "Dirty blemish" , "Identify" , "Dot, stain" , "[NIGHTCLUB]" , "Notice - fictional puppy" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and The Irish Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.