Crossword Genius

Not wholly great to follow a madman to get spice (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nutmeg

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spice' is the definition.
(nutmeg is a kind of spice)

'not wholly great to follow a madman' is the wordplay.
'not wholly' means to remove the last letter.
'great' becomes 'mega' (I've seen this in other clues).
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'follow a madman' becomes 'nut' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'mega' with its last letter removed is 'meg'.
'meg' after 'nut' is 'NUTMEG'.

'to get' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nutmeg that I've seen before include "Spicy seasoning - hard fruit for little Margaret?" , "Kick the football between an opponent's legs" , "Hard seed used as seasoning" , "Spice to grate" , "One grated as spice" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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