Crossword Genius

Desert at America, has a burger (perhaps) counter (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

atacama

'desert' is the definition.
(Atacama Desert is an example)

'at america has a burger perhaps counter' is the wordplay.
'america' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'has' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'burger perhaps' becomes 'mac'.
'counter' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'a'+'mac'='amac'
'amac' in reverse letter order is 'cama'.
'at'+'a'+'cama'='ATACAMA'

(Other definitions for atacama that I've seen before include "Chilean desert" , "South American desert" , "lot of empty space" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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