Crossword Genius

Once, Pole travelled around river with king and Columbus, for example (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

explorer

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

'columbus for example' is the definition.
(columbus is a kind of explorer)

'once pole travelled around river with king' is the wordplay.
'once' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'travelled' indicates anagramming the letters.
'around river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river. I am not sure about the 'around' bit.).
'with' is an insertion indicator.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'pole' with letters rearranged gives '[pole]'.
'[pole]'+'r'='ploer'
'ploer' placed around 'r' is 'plorer'.
'ex'+'plorer'='EXPLORER'

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for explorer that I've seen before include "Stanley and Livingston, say" , "Investigative traveller" , "Adventurer in little-known regions" , "Shackleton or Amundsen, say" , "One carrying out system-atic investigations" .)

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