Crossword Genius

A long sentence that may not mean what it says (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

life

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

'a long sentence that may not mean what it says' is the definition.
'life' can be an answer for 'a long sentence' (I've seen this in another clue). I am not sure about the rest of the definition.

'a long sentence' is the wordplay.
'a long' becomes 'l'.
'sentence' becomes 'ife' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'l'+'ife'='LIFE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for life that I've seen before include "Actuarial estimate of our remaining years" , "Vitality, vigour" , "Existence - biography" , "Birth to death" , "Baffin oiler (anag) - 7 film" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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