Local might deduce it's a retro American steamship (4)

I believe the answer is:

suss

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'local might deduce' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'a retro american steamship' is the wordplay.
'a retro' is a reversal indicator (retro is Latin for 'backwards').
'american' becomes 'us' (United States).
'steamship' becomes 'ss' (nautical abbreviation).
'us' in reverse letter order is 'su'.
'su'+'ss'='SUSS'

'it's' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for suss that I've seen before include "Divine nature of" , "Behaviour interesting police" , "Discover (slang)" , "Figure (out)" , "Realise (informal)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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