Crossword Genius

War writer's love novel rejected (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

owen

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'war writer's' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'love novel rejected' is the wordplay.
'love' becomes 'o' (love means zero in tennis).
'novel' becomes 'new' (synonyms).
'rejected' is a reversal indicator.
'new' back-to-front is 'wen'.
'o'+'wen'='OWEN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for owen that I've seen before include "Wilfred - - , WWI poet" , "Wilfred - - , WW1 poet" , "'E won over the Welshman" , "Former SDP leader" , "Clive --, English actor" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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