Crossword Genius

Revolutionary star playing with men in big band (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

orchestra

'big band' is the definition.

'revolutionary star playing with men' is the wordplay.
'revolutionary' becomes 'che' (Che Guevara the Marxist revolutionary**).
'playing' indicates an anagram.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'men' becomes 'or' (I've seen this in other clues).
'star' with letters rearranged gives 'stra'.
'che'+'stra'='chestra'
'chestra' put after 'or' is 'ORCHESTRA'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for orchestra that I've seen before include "Group of musicians found on cart-horse" , "Musical ensemble" , "alternative to the organ" , "Gamelan, for instance" , "Big group of musicians playing various instruments" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.