Crossword Genius

Little devil takes interest in warrior group (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impi

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

'warrior group' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'little devil takes interest' is the wordplay.
'little devil' becomes 'imp' (I've seen this before).
'takes' says to put letters next to each other.
'interest' becomes 'i' (this might be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'imp'+'i'='IMPI'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for impi that I've seen before include "fighters" , "Old warriors" , "group of fighting men" , "combative South African squad" , "Group of Bantu warriors" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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