Crossword Genius

Grant including a loan chased by auditor for specific period (8,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

calendar year

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

'specific period' is the definition.
'calendar year' can be an answer for 'period' (calendar year is a kind of period). I'm not certain of the 'specific' bit.

'grant including a loan chased by auditor' is the wordplay.
'grant' becomes 'cary' (actor Cary Grant).
'including' is an insertion indicator.
'loan' becomes 'lend' (synonyms).
'chased by' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters chase after others).
'auditor' becomes 'ear' (audit literally means to hear).
'a'+'lend'='alend'
'cary' going around 'alend' is 'calendary'.
'calendary'+'ear'='CALENDAR YEAR'

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for calendar year that I've seen before include "Twelve months" , "period of months?" , "January 1 to December 31 inclusive" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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.