Crossword Genius

Live in the London area (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

are

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

'live' is the definition.
('they live' means 'they are')

'london area' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'area' could be 'a' (maths abbreviation) and 'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 're' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for are that I've seen before include "live" , "(We/you/they) exist" , "is for more than one" , "Era (anag.)" , "(We/they/you) exist" .)

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