Crossword Genius

Exclusive group with resting place upcountry (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

coterie

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

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

'with resting place upcountry' is the wordplay.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'resting place' becomes 'cot'.
'upcountry' becomes 'erie' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'cot' put next to 'erie' is 'COTERIE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for coterie that I've seen before include "Select group" , "Small exclusive group of people" , "Exclusive circle of people, clique" , "Exclusive social circle" , "Small exclusive circle with a common purpose" .)

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