Crossword Genius

Hanging around with sailor and Yankee in band (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tarrying

'hanging around' is the definition.
('tarry' can be a synonym of 'hang around')

'sailor and yankee in band' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (tar is a kind of sailor).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'yankee' becomes 'y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'band' becomes 'ring' ('ring' can be a synonym of 'band').
'y' placed into 'ring' is 'rying'.
'tar'+'rying'='TARRYING'

'with' is the link.

(Other definitions for tarrying that I've seen before include "Loitering" , "using delaying tactics?" , "Lingering, staying on" , "waiting" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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