Crossword Genius

Cologne newspaper probes Germany's neighbour (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fragrance

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'cologne' is the definition.

'newspaper probes germany's neighbour' is the wordplay.
'newspaper' becomes 'rag' (informal term for a newspaper).
'probes' means one lot of letters goes inside another (probe can mean to poke or prod into).
'germany's neighbour' becomes 'france' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rag' placed into 'france' is 'FRAGRANCE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fragrance that I've seen before include "Perfume" , "Cologne, perhaps" , "Sweetness of smell" , "that may be bottled up" , "Bouquet" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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