Crossword Genius

Study country with society above a lake (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

perusal

'study' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'country with society above a lake' is the wordplay.
'country' becomes 'peru' (Peru is an example**).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'above' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'lake' becomes 'l'.
'peru'+'s'+'a'+'l'='PERUSAL'

(Other definitions for perusal that I've seen before include "Inspection" , "Process of examination" , "Examination, survey" , "Thorough reading" , "Careful reading" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app