Crossword Genius

Smart English member meeting one from a colony? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

elegant

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'smart' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'english member meeting one from a colony?' is the wordplay.
'english member' becomes 'gant' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'meeting' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'one' becomes 'a' (a thing is one thing).
'from' suggests deleting specific letters.
'a colony?' becomes 'elea' (I have seen 'Greek colony' mean 'elea' so perhaps 'colony' could also mean 'elea').
'elea' with 'a' taken away is 'ele'.
'gant' put after 'ele' is 'ELEGANT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for elegant that I've seen before include "Stylish in appearance, a gentle kind" , "Graceful - refined" , "Well-dressed" , "luxurious style?" , "Tasteful and refined in appearance" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app