Crossword Genius

Spectacular thing as person turned into grotesque deity (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dynamite

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

'spectacular thing' is the definition.
'dynamite' can be an answer for 'thing' (I have seen 'Marvellous thing' mean 'dynamite' so perhaps 'thing' could also mean 'dynamite'). I'm unsure of the 'spectacular' bit.

'person turned into grotesque deity' is the wordplay.
'person' becomes 'man' (man is a kind of person).
'turned' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'grotesque' indicates an anagram.
'man' in reverse letter order is 'nam'.
'deity' is an anagram of 'dyite'.
'nam' put inside 'dyite' is 'DYNAMITE'.

'as' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dynamite that I've seen before include "Powerful explosive" , "Dainty me could be explosive" , "Tiny dame (anag)" , "Exciting person - explosive" , "A1" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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