Crossword Genius

Old person following recipe in Italian (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

roman

'italian' is the definition.
(Roman is an example)

'old person following recipe' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'person' becomes 'man' (man is a kind of person**).
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'recipe' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'o'+'man'='oman'
'oman' after 'r' is 'ROMAN'.

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for roman that I've seen before include "Does this citizen live in a manor?" , "Italian person" , "eg Nero" , "Denizen of the eternal city" , "Caesar among others" .)

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