Crossword Genius

Support collapsing rule in East Germany (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

underlie

'support' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'collapsing rule in east germany' is the wordplay.
'collapsing' indicates anagramming the letters.
'east' becomes 'e' ('E' can be a synonym of 'east').
'germany' becomes 'd' (international vehicle registration code).
'rule'+'in'+'e'+'d'='ruleined'
'ruleined' with letters rearranged gives 'UNDERLIE'.

(Other definitions for underlie that I've seen before include "Form the base for" , "Be subject to" , "Prove to be base" , "Be situated below" , "Be the basis of" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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