Crossword Genius

Pointed to country spread around college (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

indicated

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

'pointed to' is the definition.
('indicate' can be a synonym of 'point to')

'country spread around college' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'spread' could be 'ted' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'ted' is found within the answer.
'around' could be 'ca' (circa) and 'ca' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for indicated that I've seen before include "advised" , "Shown" , "Signalled" , "Pointed, showed" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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