NE area of United States? (3,7)
I believe the answer is:
new england
This clue could be a double definition.
'ne area' is the first definition.
'New England' can be an answer for 'area' (New England is an example). I'm not certain of the 'ne' bit.
'united states?' is the second definition.
(thesaurus)
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for new england that I've seen before include "NE US states" , "on the eastern seaboard" , "part of America" , "Six states together making a region of the USA" , "More than one state" .)