Crossword Genius

Small change for novelist from the Big Apple (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

penny

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

'small change' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'novelist from the big apple' is the wordplay.
'novelist' becomes 'pen' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'from' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the big apple' becomes 'ny' (short for New York).
'pen'+'ny'='PENNY'

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for penny that I've seen before include "British coin" , "p; small coin" , "Small unit of currency" , "Copper coin" , "Coin - girl's name" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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