Crossword Genius

Land is small nuisance (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spain

'land' is the definition.
(I know that Spain is European country)

'small nuisance' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'nuisance' becomes 'pain' (synonyms).
's'+'pain'='SPAIN'

'is' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for spain that I've seen before include "Take pains to go there" , "It pains one to be out in this country" , "Crazy pains?" , "EU country" , "part of Europe" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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.