Start to row, taking man across popular river in Europe (5)

I believe the answer is:

rhine

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

'river in europe' is the definition.
'rhine' can be an answer for 'river' (Rhine River is an example). I am not certain of the 'in europe' bit.

'start to row taking man across popular' is the wordplay.
'start to' suggests taking the first letters.
'taking' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'man' becomes 'he' ().
'across' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'popular' becomes 'in'.
The first letter of 'row' is 'r'.
'he' enclosing 'in' is 'hine'.
'r'+'hine'='RHINE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rhine that I've seen before include "Great European river with Lorelei Rock" , "Bonn's river" , "water" , "Major European river" , "River rising in Alps, with mouth at Rotterdam" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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.