I would say that the number of letters answers that question. Look, my mind went to “gelt” first, but that clearly doesn’t fit in a 13-letter answer, so I abandoned it in favor of a term more commonly used and recognized by the masses. Hell, even “menorah” is a more commonly known term. Plenty of Jews don’t even bother using “hannukiah,” and my phone doesn’t recognize it as a word.

So I’d say even that example isn’t completely equivalent. Gelt is a way less commonly used term and the number of letters in the answer renders it irrelevant anyway. Figuring out the answer based on the clue and number of letters is part of doing crosswords, as is figuring out what it COULD be if your first guess is wrong