Crossword Genius

The morning? Not sure I can get a yank (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

american

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'yank' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'the morning? not sure i can get a' is the wordplay.
'the morning?' becomes 'am' (as in er:00 AM).
'not sure i can' becomes 'eric' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'get' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a' becomes 'an'.
'am'+'eric'+'an'='AMERICAN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for american that I've seen before include "Nationality of Yankee Doodle Dandy" , "Main race confused in USA" , "Film starring Kevin Spacey" , "Native to the USA" , "like Buffalo Bill" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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