Crossword Genius

Strong meat to the Yankee (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

beefy

'strong' is the definition.
('beefy' can be a synonym of 'strong')

'meat to the yankee' is the wordplay.
'meat' becomes 'beef' (beef is a kind of meat).
'to the yankee' becomes 'y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'beef'+'y'='BEEFY'

(Other definitions for beefy that I've seen before include "Burly" , "Muscular, robust" , "Athletic and muscular (non-vegetarian?)" , "like some bully?" , "Solid" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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