Crossword Genius

Regularly dally in country, where Christmas starts earlier than most (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

australia

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'where christmas starts earlier than most' is the definition.
The answer is a location as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'regularly dally in country' is the wordplay.
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'country' becomes 'austria' (Austria is an example**).
The alternate letters of 'dally' are 'al'.
'al' put inside 'austria' is 'AUSTRALIA'.

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(Other definitions for australia that I've seen before include "A land down under" , "A US lariat can be found in this country, strangely" , "big country" , "Norfolk and Christmas Islands belong to it" , "Commonwealth member" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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