Crossword Genius

The quiet one is novel (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

american

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

'novel' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'the quiet one' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'one' could be 'me' (a setter might use 'one' to humourously mean 'me') and 'me' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'is' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for american that I've seen before include "From across the pond" , "Game played on a gridiron" , "Sherman, for example" , "from Hollywood?" , "Nationality of Yankee Doodle Dandy" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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