Scrutiny by Left about America (7)
I believe the answer is:
perusal
'scrutiny' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'by left about america' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'by' could be 'per' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'per' is found within the answer.
'left' could be 'al' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'al' is located in the answer.
'america' could be 'us' (United States) and 'us' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for perusal that I've seen before include "Thorough read-through" , "Careful look" , "Thorough reading" , "thorough scan" , "Scanning, reading" .)