Crossword Genius

State, but not North American state (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

india

'state' is the definition.
(I know that India is a Asian country)

'state but not north american' is the wordplay.
'state' becomes 'Indiana' (US state).
'but not' is a deletion indicator.
'north american' becomes 'na'.
'indiana' with 'na' removed is 'INDIA'.

(Other definitions for india that I've seen before include "Populous Asian country" , "Asian sub-continent" , "Second most populous country in the world" , "Eastern country" , "Major sub-continent of Asia" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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