Crossword Genius

Character Othello's heart in scene's broken (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

essence

'character' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'othello's heart in scene's broken' is the wordplay.
'heart' means to look at the middle letters.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'broken' indicates an anagram.
The middle letter of 'othello' is 'e'.
'scenes' anagrammed gives 'essnce'.
'e' put inside 'essnce' is 'ESSENCE'.

(Other definitions for essence that I've seen before include "Cologne, perhaps?" , "required property" , "The most distinctive element" , "Attar" , "Vital element" .)

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