Crossword Genius

Hate grand city in France - country's superior (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

malignancy

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

'hate grand' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'city in france country's superior' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'city' could be 'nancy' (I've seen this before) and 'nancy' is found in the answer.
'country' could be 'mali' (Mali is an example) and 'mali' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'g' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for malignancy that I've seen is " spite".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app