Crossword Genius

Cultural note abandoned in representation of coastline (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

societal

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

'cultural note abandoned in representation of coastline' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'cultural note abandoned in representation of coastline' is the wordplay.
'cultural' becomes 'social' (similar in meaning).
'note' becomes 'la' (musical note as in do-re-mi).
'abandoned in' suggests deleting specific letters.
'representation of coastline' becomes 'etal' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'social' with 'la' taken away is 'soci'.
'soci'+'etal'='SOCIETAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for societal that I've seen is " of a community".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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.