Crossword Genius

Arena at the base of rugged range land (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

argentina

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

'land' is the definition.
(Argentina is an example)

'arena at the base of rugged range' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'at' could be 'in' (synonymous in some cases - eg at school, in school) and 'in' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'base' could be 'e' (mathematical symbol) and 'e' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for argentina that I've seen before include "Its capital Buenos Aires" , "state" , "South American country" , "part of 18 [SOUTH AMERICA]" , "FIFA World Cup winners in 1978 and 1986" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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