Crossword Genius

German artist doesn't understand Russian, English and Romanian at first (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

durer

'german artist' is the definition.
(artist Albrecht Durer)

'english and romanian at first' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'dure' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'romanian' is 'r'.
'dure'+'r'='DURER'

'doesn't understand russian' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

(Other definitions for durer that I've seen before include "Old master" , "Albrecht --, German painter and engraver" , "Albrecht -, Ger. artist" , "Albrecht -, C15-16 German artist" , "Albrecht -, Nuremburg artist" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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