Crossword Genius

Harsh area held by Bushmen (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spartan

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'harsh' is the definition.
(spartan can mean harsh or austere)

'area held by bushmen' is the wordplay.
'area' becomes 'part' (eg an area or part of a city).
'held by' indicates putting letters inside.
'bushmen' becomes 'san' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'part' put into 'san' is 'SPARTAN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spartan that I've seen before include "Of conditions, harsh and lacking comforts" , "Severe" , "Lacking comfort or luxury" , "Disciplined person" , "Of conditions, simple and harsh as for ancient Greeks" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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