Crossword Genius

Virginia, wildly embraced by Edgar, is devastated! (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ravaged

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

'is devastated' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'virginia wildly embraced by edgar' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'virginia' could be 'va' (US state abbreviation) and 'va' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'edgar' is 'raged' which is located in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ravaged that I've seen before include "laid waste" , "with wrecked appearance" , "Despoiled and pillaged" , "Devastated, having suffered great damage" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.