Crossword Genius

River and tree bordering area in field (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

realm

'field' is the definition.
(I know that realm is a type of field)

'river and tree bordering area' is the wordplay.
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'tree' becomes 'elm' (elm is a kind of tree).
'bordering' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'elm' going around 'a' is 'ealm'.
'r'+'ealm'='REALM'

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for realm that I've seen before include "region" , "Kingdom, or field of activity" , "department" , "Kingdom; field of interest" , "Area of influence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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