Crossword Genius

Passing mention had effect on nothing (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

obit

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'passing mention' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'effect on nothing' is the wordplay.
'effect' becomes 'bit' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'nothing' becomes 'o' (looks like zero - 0).
'bit' put after 'o' is 'OBIT'.

'had' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for obit that I've seen before include "Biography after death, in short" , "Death notice (colloq.)" , "The last word" , "Short biography of someone who has died (abbr)" , "Death notice abbreviated" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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