Crossword Genius

Holy area in outskirts of Samarkand (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sacred

'holy' is the definition.
('sacred' can be similar in meaning to 'holy')

'area in outskirts of samarkand' is the wordplay.
'area' becomes 'acre' (I've seen this before).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'outskirts of' means to remove the middle letters.
'samarkand' with its centre taken out is 'sd'.
'acre' put within 'sd' is 'SACRED'.

(Other definitions for sacred that I've seen before include "Religious" , "Hallowed, consecrated" , "Holy, blessed" , "'Hallowed, holy (6)'" , "not to be interfered with?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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