Crossword Genius

Heat content of the pan, largely empty, sadly (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

enthalpy

'heat content' is the definition.
('enthalpy' can be a synonym of 'heat content')

'the pan largely empty sadly' is the wordplay.
'empty' suggests removing the centre.
'sadly' indicates an anagram.
'largely' with its middle taken out is 'ly'.
'the'+'pan'+'ly'='thepanly'
'thepanly' with letters rearranged gives 'ENTHALPY'.

'of' is the link.

(Other definitions for enthalpy that I've seen before include "Thermodynamic measure of total heat content" , "Measure of energy" , "Thermodynamic quantity" , "Function for physical chemists" , "Total heat content of a system" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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