Crossword Genius

Investigate American visiting old lover of Hoskins? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

examine

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

'investigate' is the definition.
(I know that investigate is a more specific form of the action examine)

'american visiting old lover of hoskins?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'american' could be 'am' (abbreviation in some contexts) and 'am' is found in the answer.
'visiting' could be 'in' and 'in' is found in the answer.
'old' could be 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime) and 'ex' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'e' 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?

(Other definitions for examine that I've seen before include "Investigate" , "vet" , "Look closely at < test" , "Inspect, study" , "Subject to inspection" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.