Crossword Genius

Piece of land has been hired (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

islet

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

'piece of land' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'been hired' is the wordplay.
'been' becomes 'is' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'hired' becomes 'let' (I've seen this before).
'is'+'let'='ISLET'

'has' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for islet that I've seen before include "Cay, for example" , "One of Langerhans's" , "Small piece of land surrounded by water" , "Rockall, for example" , "Detached bit of land" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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