Crossword Genius

Note about tower holding retired American's gold? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

treasure

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

'gold?' is the definition.
(gold is a kind of treasure)

'note about tower holding retired american's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'note' could be 're' (as in do-re-mi) and 're' is found in the answer.
'about' could be 're' ('re' means regarding or about) and 're' is present in the answer.
'american's' could be 'as' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names) and 'as' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for treasure that I've seen before include "Prize highly" , "Hoard of jewels and money" , "Value greatly" , "See 10" , "Very valuable object" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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