Crossword Genius

Inventor terribly snide about nothing (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

edison

'inventor' is the definition.
(Edison is an example)

'terribly snide about nothing' is the wordplay.
'terribly' indicates an anagram.
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'nothing' becomes 'o' (looks like zero - 0).
'snide' with letters rearranged gives 'edisn'.
'edisn' enclosing 'o' is 'EDISON'.

(Other definitions for edison that I've seen before include "Thomas Alva ......, great American inventor" , "Early American inventor" , "Science master" , "scientist" , "Inventor of the carbon filament lamp, d. 1931" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sun.
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