Crossword Genius

Little conflict between Germany and France (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dwarf

'little' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'conflict between germany and france' is the wordplay.
'conflict' becomes 'war' (war is a kind of conflict).
'between' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'germany' becomes 'd' (vehicle registration code for Deutschland).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'france' becomes 'f'.
'd'+'f'='df'
'war' inserted into 'df' is 'DWARF'.

(Other definitions for dwarf that I've seen before include "Small person or star" , "One of the Snow White Seven?" , "Sort of star" , "Grumpy, e.g." , "Midget" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app