Crossword Genius

Criterion followed by a cavalry regiment (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

standard

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

'criterion' is the definition.
(I know that criterion can be written as standard)

'followed by a cavalry regiment' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for standard that I've seen before include "Normal quality" , "'Reference point, touchstone (8)'" , "Against which to measure the rest" , "Reference point against which other things can be evaluated" , "Accepted model - flag" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Globe and Mail.
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