Crossword Genius

Poles briefly following trendy locals? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

inns

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'locals?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'poles briefly following trendy' is the wordplay.
'poles' becomes 'SN' (North and South poles).
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'trendy' becomes 'inn' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sn' with its final letter taken off is 's'.
's' put after 'inn' is 'INNS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for inns that I've seen before include "Drinking places (frequented by barristers?)" , "Places of rest and sustenance for travellers" , "Locals" , "King's ..., for the legal eagles" , "Old hostelries or pubs" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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