Crossword Genius

Is surrounded by broken rakes and old rulers (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

kaisers

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

'old rulers' is the definition.
'Kaisers' can be an answer for 'rulers' (Kaiser is an example). I'm not sure about the 'old' bit.

'is surrounded by broken rakes' is the wordplay.
'surrounded by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'broken' is an anagram indicator.
'rakes' is an anagram of 'kaers'.
'is' going inside 'kaers' is 'KAISERS'.

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for kaisers that I've seen is " German emperors".)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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