Crossword Genius

Country people have time to make a declaration (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

statement

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

'country people have time' is the wordplay.
'country' becomes 'state' (synonyms).
'people' becomes 'men' (men are people).
'have' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'state'+'men'+'t'='STATEMENT'

'to make' is the link.

(Other definitions for statement that I've seen before include "What bank provides" , "Bank account record" , "may be taken by police" , "Declaration of facts" , "revelation" .)

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