Pass current format for new opening of major novel (4,7,4)
I believe the answer is:
cold comfort farm
'novel' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'pass current format for new opening of major' is the wordplay.
'pass' becomes 'col' (col is a term for a mountain pass).
'current' becomes 'dc' (abbreviation for direct current).
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'opening of' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'major' is 'm'.
'format'+'for'='formatfor'
'formatfor' with letters rearranged gives 'omfortfar'.
'col'+'dc'+'omfortfar'+'m'='COLD COMFORT FARM'
(Other definitions for cold comfort farm that I've seen before include "Novel" , "operation supplying frozen vegetables?" , "Stella Gibbons' rural parody" .)