Crossword Genius

Unrestricted hard nuts head up Arctic region (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tundra

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

'unrestricted hard nuts head up' is the wordplay.
'unrestricted hard nuts' becomes 'ard' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'head' becomes 'nut' (informal term for somebody's head).
'up' is a reversal indicator (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'ard'+'nut'='ardnut'
'ardnut' written backwards gives 'TUNDRA'.

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(Other definitions for tundra that I've seen before include "Cold northern region" , "wasteland" , "Sub-polar treeless zone" , "Vast level Arctic region with frozen subsoil" , "Vast treeless plane" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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