Crossword Genius

Enthusiast takes a friend to ancient city (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

amateur

'enthusiast' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a friend to ancient city' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend).
'to ancient city' becomes 'ur'.
'a'+'mate'+'ur'='AMATEUR'

'takes' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for amateur that I've seen before include "unskilful" , "Dabbler" , "lacking professional expertise" , "enthusiast" , "He's not professional" .)

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