Crossword Genius

How spam comes from South America in the past (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

incan

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'how spam comes from south america in the past' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'spam comes from south america in the past' is the wordplay.
'spam' becomes 'inc' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'from' suggests deleting specific letters.
'south' becomes 's' (synonyms).
'america' becomes 'am'.
'in the past' becomes 'once' (I've seen this before).
's'+'am'+'once'='samonce'
'samonce' with 'comes' taken out is 'an'.
'inc'+'an'='INCAN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for incan that I've seen before include "Of an ancient civilisation" , "One of the old people" , "Imperialist of the past" , "Like some South Americans" , "Of ancient Peruvians" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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