Crossword Genius

County where treasury cut rent (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cheshire

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

'county' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'treasury cut rent' is the wordplay.
'treasury cut' becomes 'ches' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rent' becomes 'hire' (rent can mean to hire something out).
'ches'+'hire'='CHESHIRE'

'where' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cheshire that I've seen before include "Riches he found with the . . . . . . . . Cat from 'Alice in Wonderland'" , "Crumbly type of cheese" , "part of England" , "Crumbly cheese from English county" , "Crumbly cheese from northwest England" .)

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