Crossword Genius

Representing American marketplaces (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fora

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'marketplaces' is the definition.
(forum is a kind of marketplace)

'representing american' is the wordplay.
'representing' becomes 'for' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'american' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'for'+'a'='FORA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fora that I've seen before include "Discussion meetings" , "markets in Rome" , "Areas of discussion" , "Roman public squares" , "discussions here" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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