Mesmeric character close to tears leaving ground (8)

I believe the answer is:

svengali

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'mesmeric character' is the definition.
'svengali' can be an answer for 'character' (I have seen 'Sinister character' mean 'svengali' so perhaps 'character' could also mean 'svengali'). I am not sure about the 'mesmeric' bit.

'close to tears leaving ground' is the wordplay.
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the 'close' to the word).
'ground' indicates an anagram ('grind' the letters into a new form).
The last letter of 'tears' is 's'.
'leaving' anagrammed gives 'vengali'.
's'+'vengali'='SVENGALI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for svengali that I've seen before include "Evil hypnotist in the George du Maurier novel, Trilby" , "Trilby's mesmerist" , "Complete controller" , "dominating influence" , "Sinister character" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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