Crossword Genius

Spy American man of refined manners (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

agent

'spy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'american man of refined manners' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'man of refined manners' becomes 'gent'.
'a'+'gent'='AGENT'

(Other definitions for agent that I've seen before include "Representative - means" , "Author" , "Spy - broker" , "Business manager" , "Delegate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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