Crossword Genius

Hip and excellent independent island state (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hawaii

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'island state' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'hip and excellent independent' is the wordplay.
'hip' becomes 'haw' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'excellent' becomes 'ai' (resembles 'Ah', old-fashioned term for excellent).
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'haw'+'ai'+'i'='HAWAII'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hawaii that I've seen before include "American state" , "The Aloha State" , "State of the union" , "US Pacific island state" , "Birthplace of the 44th US president" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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