Great king for little men (6)

I believe the answer is:

alfred

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'great king' is the definition.

I don't understand the remainder of the clue.

(Other definitions for alfred that I've seen before include "A great king of Wessex, d. 899" , "Royal one across burner" , "Cake-burning king" , "- - Hitchcock" , "King of Wessex, known as "the Great"" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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