Crossword Genius

State of fruit topping one put together (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hawaii

'state' is the definition.
(Hawaii is an example)

'fruit topping one put together' is the wordplay.
'fruit' becomes 'haw' (I've seen this before).
'topping' becomes 'AI' (resembles A1, term for excellent or topping).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'put together' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'haw'+'ai'+'i'='HAWAII'

'of' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for hawaii that I've seen before include "US Pacific island state" , "50th US state" , "It became a US territory in 1900" , "islands" , "Pacific island group" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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