Crossword Genius

Mountainous piece of land to the east and south (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

andes

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

'mountainous piece' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both natural objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'land to the east and south' is the wordplay.
'land' becomes 'and' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to the east' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'south' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'and'+'e'+'s'='ANDES'

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for andes that I've seen before include "Mountains for the Danes, oddly" , "danes found in mountains" , "Mountains of 6 dn" , "South American mountain range" , "Aconcagua the highest in this range" .)

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