Crossword Genius

Most of story is prior to fellow's charm (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

talisman

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

'most of story is prior to fellow's' is the wordplay.
'most of' means to remove the last letter.
'story' becomes 'tale' ('tale' can be a synonym of 'story').
'prior to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'fellow' becomes 'man' (I've seen this before**).
'tale' with its final letter removed is 'tal'.
'tal'+'is'+'man'='TALISMAN'

(Other definitions for talisman that I've seen before include "Lucky thing" , "Object supposed to guard against evil" , "Object believed to protect wearer" , "Protective charm" , "It's said to be a protection against evil" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app