Crossword Genius

Is it so surprising America's involved? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

iotas

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'is it so surprising america's involved?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'it so surprising america's involved?' is the wordplay.
'surprising' indicates anagramming the letters.
'america' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'involved?' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'it'+'so'='itso'
'itso' is an anagram of 'iots'.
'iots' placed around 'a' is 'IOTAS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for iotas that I've seen before include "Jots, very small amounts" , "Tiny amounts" , "Tiny scraps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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