Crossword Genius

Speed over old city carrying prisoner who has a tale to tell? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

raconteur

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

'speed over old city carrying prisoner who has a tale to tell?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.

'speed over old city carrying prisoner' is the wordplay.
'speed' becomes 'rate' (the speed at which something happens).
'over' says to put letters next to each other.
'old city' becomes 'ur' (ancient city state).
'carrying' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'prisoner' becomes 'con' (abbreviation for 'convict').
'rate'+'ur'='rateur'
'rateur' enclosing 'con' is 'RACONTEUR'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for raconteur that I've seen before include "Teller of anecdote" , "source of anecdotes" , "He tells a story well" , "One relates" , "One can relate well" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.