Returning first class by rail, with article to the Middle East (6)
I believe the answer is:
arabia
'the middle east' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'returning first class by rail with article' is the wordplay.
'returning' is a reversal indicator.
'first class' becomes 'ai' (Ab - top quality).
'by rail' becomes 'bar' (I've seen this in other clues. I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'ai'+'bar'='aibar'
'aibar' written backwards gives 'rabia'.
'rabia' put after 'a' is 'ARABIA'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for arabia that I've seen before include "Peninsula of SW Asia" , "Area between Red Sea and Persian Gulf" , "Southwest Asian peninsula" , "World's largest peninsula" , "Region between the Red Sea and Persian Gulf" .)