Mountains in an American desert? (5)
I believe the answer is:
andes
'mountains' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'in an american desert?' is the wordplay.
'in' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'ANDES' is hidden within 'an american desert'.
(Other definitions for andes that I've seen before include "South American mountain chain" , "A geographical feature" , "Mountains in west" , "Great mountains of western S America" , "Mountains of 6 dn" .)