Crossword Genius

Fellow consuming cold mineral (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

macle

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'mineral' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'fellow consuming cold' is the wordplay.
'fellow' becomes 'male' (fellow can mean a man).
'consuming' is an insertion indicator.
'cold' becomes 'C' (eg on taps).
'male' going around 'c' is 'MACLE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for macle that I've seen is " Spot".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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