Problems to be solved? English Queen leading countries without leader (9)

I believe the answer is:

equations

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'problems' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'solved? english queen leading countries without leader' is the wordplay.
'solved? english queen leading' becomes 'equ' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'countries' becomes 'nations' ('nation' can be a synonym of 'country').
'without leader' means to remove the first letter.
'nations' with its first letter taken off is 'ations'.
'equ'+'ations'='EQUATIONS'

'to be' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for equations that I've seen before include "Mathematical assertions that two expressions are equal" , "'In maths, assertions that two expressions are equal (9)'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.