Strict religious group remains around Michigan (5)
I believe the answer is:
amish
'strict religious group' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'remains around michigan' is the wordplay.
'remains' becomes 'ash' (remains of a fire).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'michigan' becomes 'mi' (state letters).
'ash' enclosing 'mi' is 'AMISH'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for amish that I've seen before include "sectarian" , "Relating to a strict American sect" , "American religious sect" , "those eshewing modern technology" , "US religious community" .)