Crossword Genius

Western town is small beginning for this key US state (2,7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

st austell

'western town' is the definition.
(town in Cornwall)

'is small beginning for this key us state' is the wordplay.
'is small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'beginning for' suggests taking the first letters.
'key us' becomes 'aus' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'state' becomes 'tell' (both can mean to say something).
The initial letter of 'this' is 't'.
's'+'t'+'aus'+'tell'='ST AUSTELL'

(Other definitions for st austell that I've seen before include "Cornish market town" , "China clay centre of Cornwall" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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