Crossword Genius

Coinage of novel phrase about Northern Line (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shrapnel

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'coinage of novel' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'phrase about northern line' is the wordplay.
'about' is an anagram indicator.
'northern' becomes 'n' (abbreviation e.g. N. Ireland).
'line' becomes 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem).
'phrase' anagrammed with 'n' can make 'shrapne'.
'shrapne'+'l'='SHRAPNEL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shrapnel that I've seen before include "Bits of shelling" , "Dangerous fragments" , "Bits of an exploded shell" , "Scattered pieces from a bursting shell" , "Pieces scattered after a shell explodes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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