Crossword Genius

Gang of eight leaders - most of them responsible for the sorrows of young Werther? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

goethe

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

'the sorrows of young werther?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'gang of eight leaders most of them' is the wordplay.
'leaders' suggests taking the first letters.
'most of' means to remove the last letter.
The first letters of 'gang of eight' is 'goe'.
'them' with its final letter removed is 'the'.
'goe'+'the'='GOETHE'

'responsible for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for goethe that I've seen before include "Eighteenth to nineteenth century German poet and dramatist (Faust)" , "Wolfgang von - , Faust author" , "German poet, d. 1832" , "Johann Wolfgang von -, German dramatist" , "German writer, b 1749" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.