Jail Democrat taking flat in American city (9)
I believe the answer is:
cleveland
'american city' is the definition.
'cleveland' can be an answer for 'city' (Cleveland is an example). I am unsure of the 'american' bit.
'jail democrat taking flat' is the wordplay.
'jail' becomes 'can' (the can is American slang for prison).
'democrat' becomes 'd'.
'taking' indicates putting letters inside.
'flat' becomes 'level' (synonyms).
'can'+'d'='cand'
'cand' placed around 'level' is 'CLEVELAND'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cleveland that I've seen before include "Democrat leader once" , "Large city of Ohio" , "Northeast English county, created 1974" , "former President" , "US city" .)