Crossword Genius

Turning dark and damp around South American region (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

midwest

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

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

'turning dark and damp around south' is the wordplay.
'turning dark' becomes 'mid' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'damp' becomes 'wet' (similar in meaning).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'south' becomes 'S' (abbreviation).
'wet' going around 's' is 'west'.
'mid'+'west'='MIDWEST'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for midwest that I've seen before include "American region" , "Area from Ohio to the Rockies" , "North central region of the United States" , "US region" , "Central part of US" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app