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Els, we follow, is into old English comic (5,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ernie wise

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

'old english comic' is the definition.
'ernie wise' can be an answer for 'comic' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'old english' bit.

'els we follow is into' is the wordplay.
'els' becomes 'ernie' (I've seen this in another clue).
'follow' says to put letters next to each other.
'into' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ernie'+'we'='erniewe'
'erniewe' enclosing 'is' is 'ERNIE WISE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ernie wise that I've seen before include "comic" , "funny little man" , "comedian" , "Member of comedy duo" , "The short, straight one" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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