I must have the syntax wrong then in the rc file

I tried something like below

nmap <leader>* :%s/\<:viw\>//g<left><left>
nmap <leader>* :%s/\<viw\>//g<left><left>
nmap <leader>* :%s/\<<viw>\>//g<left><left>

but it does execute it within the command line mode and i just end up seeing the following:

My expectation is that it would copy the word under cursor to the command line mode

nmap <leader>* viwy \| :%s/\<<c-r>+\>//g<left><left>

I guess the author remapped y to use system clipboard, so this won't work if you have default settings.

Use nmap <leader>s :norm! viwy<CR> :%s/\<<C-r>"\>//g<left><left> to make sure it uses internal clipboard if you like.