Writer's opera lacking spirit and suffering (6,6)

I believe the answer is:

eugene oneill

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'writer's' is the definition.
(American playwright)

'opera lacking spirit and suffering' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
'suffering' could be 'ill' (suffering with illness) and 'ill' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

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I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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