Crossword Genius

Old Greek king perhaps banking on one retiring (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

minoan

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'old greek' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'king perhaps banking on one retiring' is the wordplay.
'king perhaps' becomes 'man' (king is a kind of man).
'banking' indicates putting letters inside.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'retiring' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'on'+'i'='oni'
'oni' in reverse letter order is 'ino'.
'man' enclosing 'ino' is 'MINOAN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for minoan that I've seen before include "Bronze Age civilisation" , "Great civilization of ancient Crete." , "Someone in Bronze Age Crete" , "Ancient culture of island at 4 Down" , "Prehistoric Cretan" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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