Crossword Genius

Male cuts clothes, an Italian import (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

parmesan

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'italian import' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.

'male cuts clothes an' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'cuts' becomes 'pares' (paring is a kind of cutting).
'clothes' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters clothe or cover others).
'm' inserted into 'pares' is 'parmes'.
'parmes'+'an'='PARMESAN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for parmesan that I've seen before include "Pam earns this cheese" , "Cheese for grating" , "Dry sharp-flavoured Italian cheese" , "Italian cheese, often grated" , "Hard dry cheese, often grated" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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