I think that is one of the worst clues I have come across in the Times. There are times, of course, when the answer comes to you and then you fit the clue to justify it, but a good clue is when you go 'Ah of course how clever' or 'silly sod why didn't I see that!' The point being that the answers would be solveable even if you didn't have clue letters. I would defy anybody apart from the setter to come up with Marconi from that clue without at least two or three letters.
This would never cut the mustard in Clueless.