Crossword Genius

Crowd alongside a stone (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

agate

'stone' is the definition.
(agate is a type of stone)

'crowd alongside a' is the wordplay.
'crowd' becomes 'gate' (gate can refer to the crowd for a sporting event).
'alongside' says to put letters next to each other.
'gate' after 'a' is 'AGATE'.

(Other definitions for agate that I've seen before include "Quartz variety" , "Stone with coloured bands" , "On the way" , "Impure form of quartz with banded chalcedony, used as a gemstone" , "marble" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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