Crossword Genius

He called to give the news (4,5)

Ross

I think it could be either:

Which length description are you looking for?:

5

4,5

town crier

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'he called to give the news' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'he' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'he' could be 'town' and 'town' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'crier' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for town crier that I've seen before include "Formerly, an official who made public announcements" , "old teller" , "He would have publicised" , "Announcer" , "(Old) local official making public announcements" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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