Crossword Genius

German writer leaves short article (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

goethe

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'german writer' is the definition.
(johann wolfgang von goethe)

'short article' is the wordplay.
'short' becomes 'goe' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'article' becomes 'the' (the 'definite article' part of speech).
'goe'+'the'='GOETHE'

'leaves' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for goethe that I've seen before include "Poet's" , "The ego, strangely, of the German writer" , "Eighteenth to nineteenth century German poet and dramatist (Faust)" , "Johann Wolfgang von -, German dramatist" , "German author (Faust)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph and the Financial Times.
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