Crossword Genius

Taken in by local native (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

innate

'native' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'taken in by local' is the wordplay.
'taken in' becomes 'ate' ('eat' can be a synonym of 'take in').
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'local' becomes 'inn' (I've seen this before).
'ate' put after 'inn' is 'INNATE'.

(Other definitions for innate that I've seen before include "Inborn in neat way" , "Bred in the bone, one might say" , "Congenital" , "Present from birth" , "native" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.