Crossword Genius

Surprise shots at men in a melee (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

astonishment

'surprise' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'shots at men in a melee' is the wordplay.
'a melee' indicates anagramming the letters.
'shots'+'at'+'men'+'in'='shotsatmenin'
'shotsatmenin' anagrammed gives 'ASTONISHMENT'.

(Other definitions for astonishment that I've seen before include "Amazement" , "Great surprise" , "Cause of dumbness" , "Stupefaction" , "Wonder" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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