Crossword Genius

Ten left in Virginia with musical instrument (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

viola

'musical instrument' is the definition.
(viola is a kind of musical instrument)

'ten left in virginia' is the wordplay.
'ten' becomes 'IO' (IO resembles 10).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'virginia' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'io'+'l'='iol'
'iol' going inside 'va' is 'VIOLA'.

'with' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for viola that I've seen before include "part of a broken-down 27 [CARTHORSE]" , "Pansy-like flower" , "big fiddle!" , "whose player takes a bow" , "String quartet member" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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