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Gist of patriotism supported by white statesman (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

iowan

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'statesman' is the definition.
(Iowa is a state)

'gist of patriotism supported by white' is the wordplay.
'gist of patriotism' becomes 'io' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'supported by' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters hold up others).
'white' becomes 'wan' (very pale).
'io'+'wan'='IOWAN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for iowan that I've seen before include "US resident" , "From one US state" , "One from Des Moines perhaps" , "Statesman" , "American" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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