Crossword Genius

Ring about North Pole’s first foreign correspondent? (3,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pen pal

'foreign correspondent?' is the definition.
(a pen pal might be from another country)

'ring about north pole's first' is the wordplay.
'ring' becomes 'peal' (synonyms).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'first' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'north poles' is 'np'.
'peal' going around 'np' is 'PEN-PAL'.

(Other definitions for pen pal that I've seen before include "juvenile writer" , "A friendly correspondent" , "friendly writer" , "Friend who communicates in writing" , "foreign correspondent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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