Crossword Genius

Provincial Pope on vehicle turned back (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

suburban

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

'pope on vehicle turned back' is the wordplay.
'pope' becomes 'urban' (pope urban was a pope).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'vehicle' becomes 'bus' (I've seen this before).
'turned back' is a reversal indicator.
'bus' back-to-front is 'sub'.
'urban' put after 'sub' is 'SUBURBAN'.

(Other definitions for suburban that I've seen before include "Like outer city areas" , "Relating to outer city areas" , "Relating to the outskirts of a town" , "In the outlying city" , "Provincial" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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