Crossword Genius

Hake ultimately rubbish European on board ship lands (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

estates

'lands' is the definition.
('estate' can be a synonym of 'land')

'hake ultimately rubbish european on board ship' is the wordplay.
'ultimately' indicates one should take the final letters.
'rubbish' becomes 'tat' (I've seen this before**).
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'on board' is an insertion indicator.
'ship' becomes 'ss'.
The final letter of 'hake' is 'e'.
'tat'+'e'='tate'
'tate' put within 'ss' is 'states'.
'e'+'states'='ESTATES'

(Other definitions for estates that I've seen before include "People leave them" , "Demesnes" , "lands for development" , "residential areas" , "Country properties" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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.