Crossword Genius

Article with literary strength and moral quality (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thew

'literary strength and moral quality' is the definition.
(literary term meaning strength or morality)

'article with' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'with' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'the'+'w'='THEW'

(Other definitions for thew that I've seen before include "custom" , "strength" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app