Unpleasant smell leaves area of city (5)
I believe the answer is:
rough
'city' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'unpleasant smell leaves area' is the wordplay.
'unpleasant smell' becomes 'BO' (informal abbreviation for body odour).
'leaves' is a deletion indicator.
'area' becomes 'borough' (a borough is an area of a city).
'borough' with 'bo' taken out is 'ROUGH'.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rough that I've seen before include "Uneven, harsh" , "Not level or smooth, like part of golf course" , "Jagged" , "scratchy" , "general" .)