Crossword Genius

Worn out foolish endeavours northern America abandons (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

overused

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

'worn out' is the definition.
(worn out can mean overused or overdone)

'foolish endeavours northern america abandons' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'america' could be 'us' (United States) and 'us' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'overed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for overused that I've seen before include "Hackneyed" , "Employed excessively for tasks, probably worn" , "Revues do tend to be excessively utilised" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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