Crossword Genius

Severely criticised what many '49ers did (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

panned

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

'severely criticised' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'what many '49ers did' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'many' could be 'd' and 'd' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'panne' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for panned that I've seen before include "Gave a bad review to" , "Washed earth for gold" , "Expressed a totally negative opinion, of a play say" , "Severely criticised (a play, etc)" , "Heavily criticised" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Mail.
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