Crossword Genius

Pine for our island state (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

missouri

'state' is the definition.
(Missouri is an example)

'pine for our island' is the wordplay.
'pine for' becomes 'miss' (I've seen this before).
'island' becomes 'i'.
'miss'+'our'+'i'='MISSOURI'

(Other definitions for missouri that I've seen before include "River joining the Mississippi south of St Louis" , "Flower" , "State of central USA" , "State south of Iowa" , "American state, capital Jefferson City" .)

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