Crossword Genius

Record man originally set by US city a while ago (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ephesus

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

'city a while ago' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'record man originally set by us' is the wordplay.
'record' becomes 'ep' (abbreviation for extended play record).
'man' becomes 'he' (pronoun for a man).
'originally' says to take the initial letters.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
The first letter of 'set' is 's'.
'ep'+'he'+'s'+'us'='EPHESUS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ephesus that I've seen before include "Ancient Greek seaport in Asia Minor" , "Ancient port in Turkey" , "Old Greek city in Turkey" , "City with temple of Artemis" , "Ancient city on the coast of Asia Minor" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times.
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