Hearts broken by proverbial madman in middle age? It's very traumatic! (5-10)
I believe the answer is:
earth-shattering
'very traumatic' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'hearts broken by proverbial madman in middle age?' is the wordplay.
'broken by' indicates anagramming the letters (a broken form of the letters).
'proverbial madman' becomes 'hatter' (mad as a hatter. I am not sure about the 'proverbial' bit.).
'middle' means to look at the middle letters.
The central letter of 'age' is 'g'.
'hearts' is an anagram of 'earths'.
'earths'+'hatter'+'in'+'g'='EARTH-SHATTERING'
'it's' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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