Yankee into nearest lost decade (3,5)

I believe the answer is:

ten years

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

'yankee into nearest lost' is the wordplay.
'yankee' becomes 'y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'lost' is an anagram indicator.
'nearest' with letters rearranged gives 'tenears'.
'y' put into 'tenears' is 'TEN YEARS'.

(Another definition for ten years that I've seen is " Decade".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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