Crossword Genius

Tins opened by retired islanders (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cretans

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'islanders' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'tins opened by retired' is the wordplay.
'tins' becomes 'cans' ('can' can be a synonym of 'tin').
'opened by' is an insertion indicator (some letters open a gap in others).
'retired' becomes 'ret' (e.g. following the name of a retired army officer).
'cans' placed around 'ret' is 'CRETANS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for cretans that I've seen is " These islanders".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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