Crossword Genius

Group playing in desert (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

abandon

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'desert' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'group playing' is the wordplay.
'group' becomes 'aband' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'playing' becomes 'on'.
'aband'+'on'='ABANDON'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for abandon that I've seen before include "Desert - recklessness" , "Give up (something) completely" , "scrap" , "Desert - it's wild" , "Desert; lack of restraint" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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