Crossword Genius

Old person and resistance spies abducted by Martians, allegedly (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mercian

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

'old person' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'and resistance spies abducted by martians allegedly' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is located in the answer.
'resistance' could be 'r' (abbreviation in physics and electronics) and 'r' is found within the answer.
'spies' could be 'cia' (Central Intelligence Agency) and 'cia' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'me' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for mercian that I've seen is " Of Offa's kingdom; Crimean (anag.)".)

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.