Crossword Genius

Writer sadly lost plaything (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tolstoy

'writer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'sadly lost plaything' is the wordplay.
'sadly' indicates an anagram.
'plaything' becomes 'toy' (synonyms).
'lost' is an anagram of 'tols'.
'tols'+'toy'='TOLSTOY'

(Other definitions for tolstoy that I've seen before include "Lost toy belonging to Count Leo, writer" , "Great Russian author of 'War and Peace'" , "Lost toy of the Russian author" , "Count Leo . . . . . . ., author of 'War and Peace'" , "Author of Anna Karenina, d.1910" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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