Crossword Genius

Fibre I recognised in girl from the East (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sisal

'fibre' is the definition.
(sisal is a kind of fibre)

'i recognised in girl from the east' is the wordplay.
'recognised in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'girl' becomes 'lass' (lass is a kind of girl).
'from the east' says the letters should be written backwards.
'i' inserted inside 'lass' is 'lasis'.
'lasis' back-to-front is 'SISAL'.

(Other definitions for sisal that I've seen before include "Hemp fibre" , "constituent of rope" , "Fibre from agave plant" , "Fibre of Mexican agave" , "Agave cultivated for its fibre" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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