Crossword Genius

Work unit given backing by illustrious French city (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

grenoble

'french city' is the definition.
(city in southeastern France)

'work unit given backing by illustrious' is the wordplay.
'work unit' becomes 'erg' (erg is a kind of work unit).
'given backing' says the letters should be written backwards.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'illustrious' becomes 'noble' (I've seen this before).
'erg' in reverse letter order is 'gre'.
'gre'+'noble'='GRENOBLE'

(Other definitions for grenoble that I've seen before include "City of alpine France, capital of the Isere department" , "French Alpine city" , "City of south-eastern France" , "European city" , "City of SE France" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.