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SassMeister-input.scss

// ----
// Sass (v3.3.14)
// Compass (v1.0.1)
// ----

/*
  The item class is sometimes a <div>, and sometimes an <a>.
  I'd like to only set a hover effect when it's an <a>.
  Id there a way to utilize the ampersand and
  nested syntax to achieve this?
  
  What I have below is what I want in theory, but it's invalid.
*/

.item {
  background: tomato;
  display: block;
  a&:hover {
    background: dodgerblue;
  }
}

SassMeister-output.css

Invalid CSS after "  a": expected "{", was "&:hover {"

"&:hover" may only be used at the beginning of a compound selector.