Crossword Genius

Alice in Wonderland was a draw for him (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tenniel

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

'alice in wonderland was a draw for him' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'him' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'him' could be 'niel' and 'niel' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ten' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tenniel that I've seen before include "19th-century illustrator" , "First illustrator of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'" , "'Alice In Wonderland' illustrator" , "Lewis Carroll's illustrator" , "Sir John --, Victorian illustrator (Alice)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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