Crossword Genius

Queen sent up having lost a country (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

niger

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

'country' is the definition.
(African country)

'queen sent up having lost a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'queen' could be 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina) and 'er' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for niger that I've seen before include "West African republic" , "African state and river" , "22 across (anag) -- northwest African river" , "Country W. of Chad" , "Landlocked W African republic" .)

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