Crossword Genius

Waving hello, maniac creates despair (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

melancholia

'despair' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'waving hello maniac' is the wordplay.
'waving' indicates an anagram (letters wave around).
'hello'+'maniac'='hellomaniac'
'hellomaniac' anagrammed gives 'MELANCHOLIA'.

'creates' is the link.

(Other definitions for melancholia that I've seen before include "Black dog" , "Pensive sadness" , "Deep long-lasting sadness" , "Feeling of deep sadness" , "Depressed state" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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