Crossword Genius

English pop star had left hotel by half eleven (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adele

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

'english pop star' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'had left hotel by half eleven' is the wordplay.
'had' becomes 'd' (in contractions e.g. 'I'd', 'you'd' etc).
'left hotel' becomes 'a' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'half' suggests halving the letters.
'eleven' halved is 'ele'.
'd' put after 'a' is 'ad'.
'ad'+'ele'='ADELE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for adele that I've seen before include "Singer with albums titled 19, 21 and 25" , "Female English singer-songwriter, b. 1988" , "Female singer from London" , "Performer" , "Woman" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.